Detective Caleb Clouse Selected for Centre County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award

The 2022 Centre County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award ceremony was held on July 13, 2023, at the Centre County District Courthouse in Bellefonte.

The recipients for 2022 were Detective Caleb Clouse of the Ferguson Township Police Department and Officer Macy Neideigh of the Bellefonte Police Department.

This award is presented annually by the Centre County District Attorney's Office and is awarded to a Centre County law enforcement officer in recognition of exceptional service to law enforcement and the citizens of Centre County above and beyond the call of duty.

Detective Caleb Clouse of the Ferguson Township Police Department has been nominated for his efforts in solving a cold case homicide which haunted our community since Jean Tuggy was found shot in her Pine Grove Mills home in 2016. Despite diligent efforts the case grew cold, and in 2019 Detective Clouse was tasked with putting a fresh set of eyes on the investigation.

Detective Clouse reviewed the initial investigation and located a minute detail from an interview about a coworker who had shown romantic interest in the victim. That detail would break the case. Detective Clouse used that minor detail to identify the person as Christopher Kowalski, and confirmed that he had been a coworker of the victim's through 2014. Working with a digital forensics expert, Detective Clouse was able to locate Facebook conversations on the victim's hard drive showing Kowalski had been to the victim's home on prior occasions.

Detective Clouse discovered that Kowalski had purchased a 9mm handgun about a month before the murder and had sold the gun to a local gun shop about eight months later. He obtained the firearm from the new owners and a comparative analysis of a bullet shot from the firearm to those found in the victim revealed several shared characteristics including the caliber, the same rare type of rifling, and other unusual markings.

In February of 2021 Detective Clouse interviewed Kowalski. Though Kowalski initially sought to explain away Ms. Tuggy's death, Detective Clouse - through his persistent and professional questioning - was able to achieve a full confession of how Kowalski killed Ms. Tuggy. Following trial in late 2022 Kowalski was found guilty but mentally ill of Murder in the First Degree and received a life sentence. Absent Detective Clause's diligent police work Kowalski would still be at large, and the community would still not have an· answer as to who killed Jean Tuggy.

- Centre County Office of the District Attorney

On July 26, 2023, Detective Clouse was also honored with a citation presented by Senator Wayne Langerholc Jr. and Senator Chris Dush for his successful cold case work and his dedication to law enforcement.