Kemah Police Chief Chris Reed Dies In Boating Accident

KEMAH, TX — The Kemah community is mourning after the city’s beloved police chief drowned during a boating accident over the weekend. Chief Chris Reed, who’d served in several Galveston County communities over the years and was well known to many, drowned after he was knocked off a fishing boat by a large wave Friday afternoon about a mi9le fro the Texas City Dike.

Coast Guard officials announced Sunday that Reed’s body had been recovered about a mile from where he disappeared.

“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Chief Reed, as well the Kemah and law enforcement communities,” said Lt. Cmdr. Caren Damon, Coast Guard SAR Mission coordinator.

The agencies that took part in the search included:

• Coast Guard Air Station Houston
• Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi
• Coast Guard Station Galveston
• Coast Guard Cutter Tiger Shark
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
• Texas Department of Public Safety
• Texas City Fire Department Marine Unit
• Galveston County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit
• Galveston Police Department Marine and Dive Unit
• Galveston Island Beach Patrol
• Nassau Bay Fire Department
• Chambers County Marine Unit
• Harris County Marine Unit
• UTMB Marine Police
• Texas EquuSearch
• Pasadena Police Department
• Pearland Police Department
• Webster Fire Department
• League City Fire Department
• Seabrook Fire Department
• Bay City Fire Department
• Houston Police Department
• HAZMAT Special Services, LLC

Reed’s body was recovered just before 8 a.m. Sunday by a Galveston County Marine Unit boat crew near mile marker 32 on the west end of the Houston Ship Channel.

Reed, who served in the U.S. Army Airborne, had been the Kemah Chief of Police since 2016. He’d also served on the Clear Creek ISD board of trustees, the City of League City as city manager and chief of police, and as the city manager in Nassau Bay.

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