On September 25, 1998, Lawrence Steilen was killed in a helicopter accident while performing a training mission in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 51 years of age at the time of his death. Read more >

On August 28, 2000, Special Agent Royce D. “Doug” Tramel was struck and killed by a vehicle. He was 36 years of age at the time of his death. Read more >

Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Investigator Alice Faye Hall-Walton was killed in an automobile accident on March 1, 2001. She was 32 years of age at the time of her death. Read more >

Telecommunications Specialist Elton Lee Armstead died on March 18, 2003. His death was a result of injuries suffered from a fall while installing surveillance equipment on a grain silo in support of an ongoing narcotics investigation in Morris, Illinois. Read more >

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Terrance P. Loftus was killed on May 28, 2004, when the plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff from Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. Agent Loftus was providing air support to the Kansas City, Kansas District Office as part of a Title III Investigation. After transporting drug evidence seized by the Kansas City District Office to the DEA Laboratory in Chicago, Illinois, he was en route to St. Louis, Missouri, to return the DEA aircraft. Read more >

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Donald C. Ware died on October 12, 2004, of complications during a surgery that was directly attributed to gunshot wounds he received on June 9, 1975, while working on an undercover operation in Mexico. Read more >

On October 29, 2004, Task Force Officer John “Jay” Balchunas was fatally wounded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He died from his injuries on November 5, 2004. Officer Balchunas was conducting surveillance as part of the Department of Justice/FBI Fall Threat Initiative prior to the national elections. Read more >

On August 28, 2008, while attending the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, Special Agent Thomas J. Byrne was severely beaten and mugged while walking to his hotel. After multiple surgeries, he succumbed to his injuries on August 30, 2008. Read more >

On November 19, 2008, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Samuel S. Hicks was tragically shot and killed during a joint DEA, FBI, and Pittsburgh Police Department operation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Read more >

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Michael E. Weston was killed on October 26, 2009, when the U.S. military helicopter he was in crashed while returning from a joint counternarcotics mission in western Afghanistan. Special Agent Weston was assigned to the Kabul, Afghanistan Country Office. He was 37 years of age at the time of his death. Read more >