Officer Donald Dante Thornbury - Miccosukee Police Dept. - FL - True Life Hero

Donald Dante Thornbury
- Oct. 26, 1991 -

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Miccosukee Police Dept. Patch

Resided:	FL, USA
Born:	May. 14, 1965
Fallen:	Oct. 26, 1991
Race/Sex:	Caucasian Male / 26 yrs. of age
	Agency
Dept:	Miccosukee Police Dept. - FL SW 8th St Miami, FL 37790 USA (305)223-1600
County:	Miccosukee Indian Reservation
Dept. Type:	Federal/Police
Hero's Rank:	Officer
Sworn Date:	12/1990
FBI Class:	Accident - Natural
Weapon Class:	Airboat
Agency URL:	Click Here
Memorial Panel:	49-W: 18

Bio: Donald Dante Thornbury, 26, was born in Richland, Virginia, on May 14, 1965, to Donald and Nancy Thornbury. He was the second of two children (Barry L. and Donald). Dante was raised in the Dayton, OH, area and attended C.F. Holiday and Harold Snell Elementary schools, West Carrollton Jr. H.S. and West Carrollton H.S. He participated in track and football in high school and graduated in 1983.

Donald attended West Carrollton Joint Vocational School in his senior year and also for a year after H.S. After H.S. he worked at the City Office Building in Carrollton before the family moved to Indiana in 1983. Thornbury first became interested in police work in Indiana as he served as an auxiliary (volunteer) police officer in Marklebille, IN, from the age of 18 to 21 (from 1983-1986). He attended the Noblesville Reserve Police Academy for the Reserve Basic Law Enforcement course.

In 1986 he became a full-time police officer for the Edgewood, IN, Police Dept. and was sent by that Dept. to the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield. During his tenure in Edgewood (1986-1990), he attended the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy for DWI enforcement, the emergency services first responder course, the occult mind control and Satanic cult activity course, the police officer self-defense course, and the Doppler radar operation course.

Thornbury moved to FL in 1990 and joined the Miccosukee force on Dec. 18, 1990. He attended the Broward County Police Academy and received his FL police certification on March 29, 1991. Thornbury had a total of 8 years of law enforcement experience at his death. During his tenure in FL he completed the U.S. Dept. of Interior Fish & Wildlife Service certification course, the U.S. Interior Special Police Deputation course, and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Deputy Special Officers course (from the Miccosukee Dept.).

The Miccosukee tribe had only recently begun a wildlife program and, in Sept. of 1991, Thornbury had volunteered to work as a wildlife officer. A Miccosukee Wildlife Officer has the same law enforcement powers as a Miccosukee Police Officer granted in Florida State Statute 285.18. All Miccosukee sworn law enforcement officers regardless of their designation as a wildlife officer, upon application, receive commissions as Special Officer of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Special Police Deputation U.S. National Park Service. Both of the Commissions are granted by the Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior and have the full force and authority to investigate and prosecute violations of federal criminal law. (Letter from Miccosukee Police Chief Anthony G. Zecca, 11/21/1995)

Thornbury was working as a wildlife officer when the accident occurred. He loved the outdoors and often commented to his fellow officers, "It's almost a sin to get paid for doing this job."

Survived by:

Donald Thornbury - Father

and mother - Nancy Thornbury of Anderson, IN; a brother, Barry L. Thornbury, 30, of Pineville, LA.; his nieces, Erica Marie Thornbury, 10, and Dana Leigh Thornbury, 5, of Pineville, LA; his grandparents, Ray and Esther Thornbury of Lebanon, VA; and his maternal grandmother, Tina Welch of Melbourne FL.

Fatal Incident Summary

Offender:

Location:	Maimi, FL USA Sat. Oct. 26, 1991
Summary:	Miccosukee Police Officer Donald Thornbury, 26, drowned after an airboat accident that occurred while he was on patrol duty in the Everglades on Oct. 26, 1991. Officer Thornbury became the first member of the Miccosukee Police Department (organized in 1976) to be killed in the line of duty. The Department consisted of only ten men at the time of Thornbury's death. On Saturday, Oct. 26, 1991, Officer Thornbury, who had joined the Miccosukee police 10 months earlier, was alone on airboat patrol on the Alligator Alley reservation in Broward County. Thornbury was also a Wildlife and Game Officer and his co-workers reported him missing Saturday afternoon. A 'massive two-day search' was conducted by 'land and air' (i.e., helicopters) that involved U.S. Customs, the Metro-Dade Police Aviation Bureau, the Broward Sheriffs' Office, the FL Fish and Game Commission and many volunteers. On Monday, Oct. 28, Thornbury's body was found floating in a canal on the south side of Alligator Alley near mile marker 46, approximately 21 miles west of the Ft. Lauderdale toll booth. The airboat was found submerged at that location. Police investigators believe that the airboat flipped over in 12 feet of water and that Thornbury drowned.
Disposition:	There was no perpetrator in this case. The Broward Medical Examiner's Office, the FL Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission and homicide investigators from the Broward Sheriff's Office concluded that Thornbury had suffered accidental drowning as a result of an airboat accident.
Source:	Book Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book- FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN DADE COUNTY, FL, 1895-1995 by William Wilbanks Louisville: Turner Publications 1996
Source:	NLEOMF Website Click

Last Updated: May. 25, 2020