Senior Trooper Douglas Wayne Bland

Douglas Wayne Bland

Trooper Douglas Bland was killed in a single car collision while responding to an accident call.

At 19:28 hours on January 18, 1999, Trooper Bland was dispatched to a vehicle accident by Pocahontas County dispatch. After Trooper Bland failed to arrive at the scene and failed to answer radio calls, other officers began to search for him. At approximately 21:30 hours, a civilian employee of the Pocahontas County Sheriff's Department located Trooper Bland's cruiser overturned in Knapps Creek next to West Virginia Route 39. The trooper was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead at 00:09 hours on January 19.

Trooper Bland had been employed with the West Virginia State Police for three years and is survived by his wife and his child.