Searchers return from the woods at the George Washington Management Area on Sept. 14, ending their search for the day for missing Glocester police Officer Michael E. Hopton, whose body was found Monday by two hikers.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

GLOCESTER –– In a rural police department with 12 patrol officers who knew each other and their routines well, the disappearance of Officer Michael E. Hopton in September was shocking.

A massive four-day search turned up no clues. When the search was called off on Sept. 16, Glocester Police Chief Jamie A. Hainsworth said Tuesday, members of his tight-knit department still held out hope.

That hope was snuffed out late Monday afternoon, when two men hiking in the rural Casimir Pulaski Recreation Area, in Burrillville and Glocester, found Hopton’s body. He died of a gunshot wound to the head, said the state medical examiner’s office; state police said they do not suspect foul play.

“It’s a shock to everyone,” Hainsworth said.

“This is a small department,” Hainsworth said. “We all work closely together, and no one expected this, obviously.

“We just feel very deep sympathy for the family, that’s for sure. He has a wonderful family. … Everyone wants to do everything they can for his family.”

On Monday, the two hikers were walking by the thinned-out brush and saw Hopton’s sneaker in a swamp on the Pulaski Recreation Area’s Border Trail, at the power lines in Burrillville, according to state police Lt. Col. Steven G. O’Donnell. It was about 100 to 150 feet away from any searchable area.

O’Donnell said the body would have been obscured by the thick vegetation during the summer, and said officers hypothesize that Hopton would have had to crawl under the dense brush.

Hopton’s service weapon, a 40-caliber Glock firearm, was with his body, said the state police.

Hopton was last seen on the morning of Sept. 12 by Wilbur Pond inside the George Washington Management Area in Chepachet, about a mile from where he’d left his car. Several people staying at the campground reported hearing gunfire that day, the state police said.

He failed to return home or to show up at work that day, when he was due to work the overnight shift.

His fellow officers knew where he frequently jogged and biked and went looking for him. He was reported missing early the next day, a Sunday, after the officers discovered his car in the first lot at Pulaski Park. His keys were inside; his gun and driver’s license were the only things missing.

The search for Hopton involved more than 950 volunteers from law-enforcement agencies in Rhode Island and Connecticut, as well as firefighters and municipal police recruits, the Civil Air Patrol, the Coast Guard and police and civilian search dogs. They covered more than 15 square miles in Pulaski Park and the George Washington Management Area.

Hopton, a Warwick native, had retired from the Smithfield Police Department as captain in 2004. He spent six months as a defense lawyer, but then returned to police work, joining the Glocester force. Last year, he became the first school resource officer at Ponaganset High School.

Interviewed about his job as a school resource officer last fall, Hopton talked about how years of coaching his children’s teams had prepared him for the new job.

Hainsworth said that once Hopton left to become a lawyer, he just missed the police work.

“He wanted to continue to be a police officer, and wanted to be in a small place like this,” the chief said. “And, he enjoyed it very much.”

Now, Hainsworth has just 11 patrol officers and one captain. The chief said Tuesday he isn’t ready to think about hiring a replacement for Hopton.

“I really haven’t even considered it at this point,” he said. “We’ll get through this, and then take care of his family. And then we’ll have a plan shortly.”

––With reports from Amanda Milkovits

kbramson@projo.com