'He was just a great person.' Walsh County deputy remembered.

Darren Vold, 48, died Thursday, Feb. 8, according to an obituary printed in the Herald. Sheriff Ron Jurgens confirmed Vold died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was found near Park River.

Born in Grand Forks, Vold graduated from East Grand Forks Senior High School before graduating from Alexandria (Minn.) Technical and Community College with a law enforcement degree, according to his obituary. He and his wife moved to Park River in 1991. He joined the Park River Police Department as an officer and later became a deputy for the Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Ron Jurgens called Vold a vital part of the Sheriff’s Office who was soft-spoken.

“He had the respect of all of his coworkers and the communities that he worked and lived in,” Jurgens said. “He was well-loved by everybody that knew him.”

Vold went the extra mile to help others and was very easy to work with, UND Police Lt. Danny Weigel said. The two worked together at the Sheriff’s Office before Weigel joined the UND Police Department.

People felt they could go to Vold for advice, Weigel said, adding the deputy was someone a person could lean on.

“He was just a great person,” Weigel said. “There is really no other way to put it but that. … It’s a tragic loss for the community up there.”

The obituary said Vold’s passion was family and he enjoyed hunting and fishing. The Sheriff's Office put a photo of a blue line with a black background -- an image often used to symbolize the loss of a law enforcement officer -- on Facebook in his honor.