High-Ranking Air Force Colonel Accused of Rape Found Dead in Colorado Home: Police
A top-ranking colonel in the Air Force Space Command who was facing a court martial for rape was found dead in his Colorado home early Sunday, the Air Force confirms to PEOPLE.
On Sunday at 12:31 a.m., police responded to a report of a suicide and found the body of Col. Eugene Caughey, 46, in his off-base residence, Colorado Springs Police Sgt. Tim Stankey confirms to PEOPLE.
“There is no indication of foul play,” says Stankey. “We are awaiting the findings of the coroner’s office.”
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Caughey joined the Air Force in 1993 and was currently assigned as an Air Force Space Command special staff member, according to a press release issued by Colorado’s Peterson Air Force Base.
Caughey, who had been a 50th Space Wing vice commander at Schriever AFB, “was under investigation for multiple charges including several alleged sexual offenses, adultery, and conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman,” according to the press release.
He was removed from his position as vice commander on June 17, 2015, after the investigation was initiated, the release states.
“He was facing court-martial (trial), which was set to begin Oct. 17, and was considered innocent until proven guilty,” a spokesman for the Air Force tells PEOPLE.
The exact cause of death is under investigation by the Colorado Springs Police Department, says Sgt. Stankey.
He survived the Sept. 11 terror attack on the Pentagon, according to the Schriever Air Force Base website.
“I was a captain inside the Pentagon that morning when a plane crashed into the west side of the building,” Caughey wrote.
