Police identify off-duty officer found dead in woods

A Vancouver Police officer who received “Department Recognition” in 2008 was found dead in a wooded area Tuesday night, several hours after he fired gunshots and threatened suicide at his home on Northeast Schauer Drive, a few miles east of Battle Ground.

Officer Douglas Deaver, 46, was found dead by a creek near the home shortly after 8:35 p.m. of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The department confirmed his death Wednesday. An investigation into Deaver’s death by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office is ongoing.

“Officer Deaver was well liked, hard-working and was highly regarded by his peers and members of our community and he will be greatly missed,” Vancouver Police Chief Clifford Cook said in a statement.

Deaver was off-duty when officers were dispatched to a disturbance at his home shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Southwest Washington Regional SWAT officers were called to take over the scene as the night grew darker and shots were heard inside and outside the home.

They searched for Deaver in a wooded area surrounding the home. A fading heat signature detected near the creek helped officers locate his body.

Deaver was believed to have been distraught about marital problems. A petition for divorce was filed by Douglas and Brigitte Deaver in October 2009, according to public records.

Deaver joined the Vancouver Police Department in 2000 after 10 years with the Dallas Police Department in Texas.