Naval officer charged with rape found dead

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Navy officials said Tuesday the Navy officer charged with raping an enlisted sailor under his command was found dead of an apparent suicide.

The body of Cmdr. William S. Petrie, 43, was found on the beach off the Colonial Parkway about seven miles outside of Williamsburg, Virginia, according to Deputy Chief Ken Middlebrook of the James City County Police Department.

Middlebrook said Petrie contacted his lawyer at 7 a.m. and said he would not make his preliminary hearing Tuesday morning.

A maintenance worker found the body on the beach about 8:30 a.m. with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Petrie was also accused of disobeying a Navy order not to fraternize with enlisted personnel and ignoring an order to return to a Navy base while stationed in Greece.

The alleged rape occurred October 7 and Petrie was charged December 11.

Legal documents in the case were released last week. Petrie was to appear Tuesday at an Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian preliminary hearing.

According to the charges, Petrie engaged in an "unduly familiar personal relationship" with the sailor at a naval support facility at Souda Bay on the Mediterranean island of Crete.

The charges accused Petrie of engaging or attempting to engage in sexual activity with the sailor, who was under his command.

Petrie was a 23-year veteran. He commanded a 300-member naval flight cargo squadron named the "Rawhides" of the Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC-40) at Norfolk Naval Station before he was temporarily reassigned to the Naval Air Force's Atlantic Fleet Command.

His body was sent to a forensics lab in Richmond, Virginia, for autopsy.