A Phillips County sheriff’s deputy was found dead in his patrol car early Tuesday morning after he responded to a burglary alarm in a rural area near the White River National Wildlife Refuge.
Robert Nearns Sr., 57, was found about 4:30 a.m., slumped in his patrol car in the middle of County Road 623, about 6 miles south of Marvell, Phillips County Sheriff Neal Byrd said.
The patrol car’s door was open, the engine was running and in gear, and Nearns’ foot was on the brake, the sheriff said.
Byrd said there were no apparent signs of foul play, but he called in an Arkansas State Police investigator to conduct an independent investigation.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler said the investigator determined that, as of Tuesday, there was no reason to suspect foul play. But Sadler said his agency was awaiting the results of an autopsy conducted at the state Crime Laboratory to determine a cause of death and confirm that it wasn’t suspicious.
Nearns, who served in law enforcement for about 25 years, had been sent to check on the burglary alarm shortly after 4 a.m. but never checked in, Byrd said.
The sheriff’s dispatchers check in with each of the deputies about every 10 minutes while they’re patrolling, and a dispatcher had become concerned when he couldn’t reach Nearns on his radio or phone, Byrd said.
The dispatcher alerted Byrd and his chief deputy, Darrell Winston, who found Nearns.
The location of his car and the direction it was facing indicated that Nearns had finished investigating the burglary alarm and was leaving when he died, Byrd said.
Byrd said he worked with Nearns, who lived in Helena-West Helena, for nearly 20 years in various law-enforcement roles and called him a good deputy and husband.
“We lost a man who truly loved his job. He was very committed and dedicated, and most of all, was a good family man,” Byrd said.