http://hamptonroads.com/2009/08/autopsy-positively-identifies-body-found-state-park-va-beach
© August 3, 2009
VIRGINIA BEACH
An autopsy today positively identified a body found in First Landing State Park after authorities searched several days for a missing sailor.
Police said that the body found Saturday morning in a ravine near one of the park's main hiking trails is that of Gerard Curran, 45.
When Curran last spoke with his family Tuesday evening, everything appeared to be normal, police said.
Then he disappeared. His family reported him missing Thursday, and police found his vehicle near First Landing State Park's Trail Center.
Search-and-rescue teams mobilized to find Curran, using canines, foot patrols and the Police Department's Mounted Unit, Long said.
Curran's wife was at First Landing State Park when the body was found around 11:30 a.m., said park manager Bruce Widener. She had been helping with the search.
His family joined detectives at the scene, near the park's Trail Center, Widener said. Media were not allowed near the site.
Officials declined to comment on the body's condition and said the case is being investigated as a suicide, but Long said foul play is not suspected.
Curran, of the 600 block of Piney Branch Drive, was stationed at Norfolk, Long said. He was also a father, Widener said.
Curran was an electronic technician chief petty officer and joined the Navy in 1991. He has been stationed in Florida and South Korea and was a recipient of the Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
First Landing State Park encompasses 2,888 acres and has 19 miles of trails, according to its Web site. Widener declined to say which trail the body was found near.
Park rangers closed First Landing on Saturday morning, then reopened most areas in the afternoon. Bikers, dog-walkers and joggers used the area as usual, and signs advertised a party and wedding there.
All areas were reopened by about 4:45 p.m., once the body was removed, Widener said.
