Town remembers constableLincolnville marks anniversary of Robert Bailey's death By Nadine Parks (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Post and Courier Robert Bailey LINCOLNVILLE — Late one summer night, frantic calls went out across police radios. Constable Robert Bailey was missing, kidnapped after a traffic stop near Greenwood Street. That was a year ago, and on Wednesday about 60 of Bailey's friends and acquaintances gathered at the town's public safety building that is now named in his honor. Over hot dogs, chips and soda, they marked the one-year anniversary of his shooting death — a death that changed some people's lives. It's a memory that some have trouble shaking. "The shock is gone. We've accepted the reality of his loss," Mayor Tyrone Aiken said. "However, it's still tough to rebuild." Bailey's partner, former Lincolnville Sgt. Richie Hill, left the town about six weeks after Bailey's death for a spot at the Hanahan Police Department. His decision to leave was, in part, to put the horrible memory behind him, he said. Hill still remembers the first traffic stop he made after Bailey's death. It was in Hanahan, late at night; a woman with a tag light out. He remembers the anxiety, the blood rushing. "Was this woman capable of similar misdeeds?" he thought. "It's permanently scarred me. It gave me a different outlook on law enforcement," Hill said. "I'll never trust people like I did before." Town Councilwoman Dot Bailey, who is not related, thinks only of the good that was in the 67-year-old constable who patrolled Lincolnville as a volunteer. She remembers the day that someone stole her father's antique rifles. Bailey not only searched through the woods behind her home, found one of the guns buried in the dirt and returned it, but he took it home and polished it up so it looked even better than before it disappeared, she said. Robert Bailey disappeared May 14, 2007. After a five-day search by hundreds of law enforcement authorities, his bullet-riddled body was found buried a few miles off Interstate 26 in Orangeburg County. Several people were arrested and face charges related to his disappearance and death. Robert Bailey never made it home safely to his family, but some people say his memory will live for a long time in this little town. Council has proclaimed the week of his death as Robert "Bob" Bailey Week. "We will try to keep his memory alive as long as we are here," Dot Bailey said. Reach Nadine Parks at 937-5573 or nparks@postand courier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 4 comment(s)
Posted by eyfigueroa on May 15, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a way to honor a local hero.
Posted by sc_native on May 15, 2008 at 12:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Have the killers been executed yet? If not, why?
Posted by reality_woman on May 15, 2008 at 1:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a sad thing to have happened to a really wonderful man. Those responsible for this crime should be put to a quick and timely death. No need to spare these common criminal and spend money keeping thier sorry butts alive in our prison system. They have no business living after taking this man from us.
Posted by SCPDBLUE on May 18, 2008 at 7:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Constable Bailey was agood man,LE partner and friend. He was not only honored in Lincolnville but in Washington,DC at the Police Memorial his name has been added to over 18,000 LEO's who will never be forgotten,who paid the ultimate sacrifice for you and yours.Over 20,000 family and friends came to show respect to the fallen.We cried,we hugged,we prayed over the loss of a family member,LE partner or a close friend.We cried together as one.Never to forget that we lost 181 officers in 2007 ranged in age from 19 to 76 average age was 39.Texas,with 22,had the most in the line of duty deaths fallowed by Florida (16),California(10),and Louisiana(9).2007 was the 37th most deadly year for LE in U.S. History.The deadliest was 1930,when 279 officers died. So remeber "POLICE GIVE MORE THAN JUST SPEEDING TICKETS",just ask the families of the 181 fallen officers....