It’s not unusual for law enforcement agencies to ask for the public’s help in locating a suspect or missing person.

In this instance the request is a little different because it involves a fatal shooting of a Moultrie man that happened in 1934. And it involves one of their own.

Moultrie police motorcycle officer Jack Palmer died in a freak accident while involved in a pursuit near downtown Moultrie on Aug. 23 of that year.

Palmer had just made a “sweeping turn” onto North Main Street near the Standard Oil Co. station when he ran into a car, according to the Weekly Moultrie Observer account. The two cars he was pursuing appeared to be racing to see which could reach Main Street first, and the pursuing officer collided with the side of a car traveling north on Main Street.

The impact threw Palmer from the motorcycle, the news account said.

“His pistol fell from the holster, discharged and the bullet struck him in the back just above one of his hips,” the newspaper said.

Palmer, who had been an officer in Moultrie for about three months after working in Tallahassee, was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. He died about 22 hours after the 6 p.m. collision.

Today’s Moultrie Police Department officers want to give Palmer his due for dying in the line of duty.

Palmer was born in Mitchell County, but so far efforts to locate any family members have been unsuccessful.

“We’re trying to find some relatives of his, no matter how distant they may be,” said Sgt. Dave Underwood. “We want to be a part of us recognizing him.”

The annual day to remember fallen officers is in May, but police want to do something before that time, he said.

So far there are five names on the granite monument on the courthouse square. Those are:

• Doerun Police Department officer Lawrence M. O’Neal, shot and killed on April 7, 1959.

• Moultrie officer Roy Edward James, 36, shot and killed on Aug. 13, 1960.

• Georgia Department of Revenue agent Daniel J. Hancock, 52, killed in a car accident in Dougherty County on May 17, 1962. He was a Moultrie resident.

• Thomas “Tommy” Meredith, fatally shot on Aug. 25, 1973.

• Colquitt County deputy Tony Reed Wilder, 43, shot and killed on Jan. 31, 1986.

Earlier this year police learned about Palmer, with whom they had not been familiar, when someone sent a clipping from a Tallahassee Democrat newspaper article to Police Chief Emeritus Frank Lang. Palmer was buried in Tallahassee.

The Observer said in his obituary that Palmer was a good officer who was popular with fellow police officers and the public.

“He played no favorites and found it necessary to make but very few cases,” the newspaper noted. “He was a good officer and a good fellow in the highest meaning of that term.”

Police plan to add Palmer’s name to downtown monument as early as next week.

When they locate family members they will invite them to attend a ceremony to honor Palmer.