Former CHP Officer Found Dead Worked in Marin

A former California Highway Patrol officer found dead in northern Sonoma County this week worked for eight years at the Marin CHP office in Corte Madera and was involved in a major crash in Mill Valley about 25 years ago, a CHP spokesman said Wednesday.

The body of George Martin Feeney, a 55-year-old Cloverdale resident, was found by a passerby in the town of Asti, and he was pronounced dead minutes later, CHP Officer Jon Sloat said. A bicycle was found near Feeney's body, and there were no signs of a collision, injuries or damage to the bike. It appeared he suffered a medical emergency, Sloat said.

Officer Christopher Rardin of the Marin CHP office said Feeney worked in Marin from 1982 to 1990 following three years in West Los Angeles and San Francisco.  

Feeney was a motorcycle officer out of the Marin office from 1984-87 and suffered major injuries when his bike was rear-ended by a vehicle at the intersection of East Blithedale Ave. and Camino Alto in Mill Valley, Rardin said. The date of the incident couldn’t be found in CHP records, but Rardin said Feeney retired from the CHP due to a disability in 1992 following two years on duty in Santa Rosa.

Rardin said Feeney is survived by two daughters and a son and was described by Marin coworkers as easy-going and very helpful.

Attempts to reach Feeney’s family for this story were unsuccessful.

--Bay City News Service contribute to this report