Fayetteville police lieutenant with COVID-19 dies weeks before wedding

A Fayetteville police officer with COVID-19 died right before his wedding and planned retirement.

The Fayetteville Observer reports Lt. Eric Dow, 50, was supposed to marry his fiancée, Kim Burns, on Oct. 19, but on Oct. 1, everything changed when he died of a suspected blood clot while recovering from COVID-19.

About 10 a.m. on Oct. 1, Burns' mother arrived at Dow's house to pick him up and found him dead.

Dow, a 26-year veteran of the Fayetteville Police Department, was planning to retire in just 14 months, Burns said.

She said much of their time in recent months was spent working on a home they bought in Myrtle Beach, where they planned to move after his retirement.

Dow had two sons, Noah, 16, and Ian, 11, and Burns said Dow also loved her 19-year old son, Colin, as one of his own.

While he wasn't vaccinated, Dow was otherwise "extremely" healthy and exercised at least four times a week, Burns said.

Burns said the last conversation she had with her fiancé was that morning before she left for work.

"He said, 'I don't know what I would do without you,'" Burns recalled, "and I told him he'll never have to know.'"