DECEASED STATE POLICE VETERAN WAS CALHOUN NATIVE

(07/20/2007)
A deceased WV State Police veteran is a native of Calhoun County.

Cpl. Marlo Gonzales, a 13-year veteran has died of what investigators believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Gonzales, 39, died Wednesday night in his cruiser, which was parked in the driveway of his home on Sycamore Road near Hurricane.

Colonel Dave Lemon says the shot was fired with Gonzales' service weapon while the officer was on duty. His body was found by his father-in-law, who lived nearby.

The Clay Communicator said "Gonzales was easy with a smile and took the time to talk, to answer questions. Better yet he had a sense of fairness and added reason to his arrests, conduct, and actions."

Gonzales is survived by a wife and three children.

He was a graduate of Calhoun High School in 1986, and was known as an outstanding athlete. He had served in the military.

He was related to the Whipkey family of Nobe, and had first married a Calhoun woman.

Lemon says Gonzales started with the State Police in 1994. He'd worked in Putnam and Clay counties before recently being reassigned to South Charleston to fill in for officers on military leave.

Lemon said associates said he had shown no signs of distress. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.