Timothy Buchanan was a longtime member of the York County Sheriff's Office, where he served as a detective in the investigations division.
A South Carolina police detective died suddenly during his daughter’s wedding, suffering a fatal heart attack after the traditional father-daughter dance at the reception, devastated loved ones said.
Timothy Buchanan, 54, had traveled to Costa Rica over the holiday weekend to see his daughter get married Saturday.
“During the wedding, after the father-daughter dance, Tim had a heart attack. Sadly, he didn't survive it,” family friend Jenn Lewis wrote on a GoFundMe page created to offset funeral expenses.
Buchanan was a longtime member of the York County Sheriff’s Office, where he served as a detective in the investigations division focused on computer crimes, according to the Rock Hill Herald.
“All of our hearts are saddened about the loss of this great law enforcement officer,” Sheriff Bruce Bryant said. “Tim dedicated almost 19 years to this profession as an outstanding deputy, forensics investigator and most recently detective in computer crimes. His talents will be sorely missed.”
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Buchanan leaves behind his wife, Jeni Buchanan, and their four children, she wrote in a heartbreaking post to Facebook.
“You never know when the last time will be the last time!” she wrote.
“Tim came into my life at a time when I was broken to the core and held me up and built me into a strong person,” she continued. “He was the most beautiful soul I have ever known and I will never be the same without him. I know he loved me and our family.”
She shared a photo of her and her husband taken during their daughter’s wedding, a moment the couple kissed that was captured from afar without their knowledge.
“Little did I know just a few hours later we would lose him,” she wrote.
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She asked for prayers for her family, saying it was her husband who could always make his loved ones feel better when things went wrong.
“If you know Jeni, you know how much Tim means to her, and how wonderful that love is that they share,” Lewis wrote on the GoFundMe page, which had reached more than $11,500 in donations by Tuesday.
Loved ones took to the page to offer their condolences and praises for the man they said was gone too soon.
“Tim was an outstanding detective and an even better man. You are in our prayers,” one donor wrote.
“You and Tim shared a once-in-a-lifetime love that will continue to inspire so many of us throughout the years. For that, we are ever-grateful,” another posted.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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