Police Officer Albert Sydney Moore

Albert Sydney Moore

Police Officer Albert Moore drowned in the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Portsmouth, Virginia, after being pushed or thrown off of a floating derrick docked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's berth 12.

Other officers began searching for him after he failed to report in at 8:00 pm and again at 9:00 pm. Investigators believed that he had interrupted the larceny of supplies from the derrick and a massive search to drag the river was undertaken. Officer Moore's body was located near the South Norfolk Bridge two weeks later on December 1, 1930.

Two brothers who lived on a houseboat near the shipyard were arrested in August 1931 and charged with Officer Moore's murder after telling their sister shortly after Officer Moore went missing that they had thrown a man into the river after being caught stealing. A federal grand jury failed to return a true bill and both brothers were released.

Officer Moore was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and had served with the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Police Department for six years. He was survived by his brother and sister.