Being born in sunny San Diego, California, Sean Cavanaugh was raised with certain things as an absolute, and one of them would be that he would join the United States Marine Corps. His father had
been in the corps and had served two tours in Vietnam and his grandfather had also been in and had fought his way across the Pacific during World War II. When Sean turned eighteen, it was a given that
he would stand on the yellow footprints just as the rest of the men in his family had. Till then, Sean's childhood wasn't much different than the boys he grew up with. He played sports, excelling at both baseball and football, and he achieved straight A's throughout school, a combination of his father's discipline and his mother's intelligence. His mother had hoped that he might take one of the academic or athletic university scholarships that were offered to him but he decided to enter the family business and the day after his eighteenth birthday, he had visited the local Marine Corps recruiter and enlisted.

Three years later, he was considering whether or not to stay with the corps, as his father wanted, or return home and attend college, as his mother wanted. Then came 9/11 and all thoughts of leaving the Corps vanished. Two years later, Sean's unit, "The Old Breed" was one of the first units into Iraq. For two years, Sean served honorably with the 1st, receiving a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for valor, until November of 2005 when the Humvee Sean was riding in hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The blast killed several of his friends and comrades and severely injured his leg.

Sean was transferred to the VA hospital in San Diego where he began a painful recovery period during which it was months before he could walk without the aid of crutches and months still before he could begin to run again. Altogether, Sean spent almost an entire year enduring painful rehab sessions before he was healed. Although his leg still bears the horrible scars from his injury and the subsequent surgeries to repair them, by some miracle he retained full use of it and today is able to run and climb with no impairments. With the end of his military career, Sean spent several months trying to decide what to do with the rest of his life and he eventually decided to again follow in the footsteps of his father, this time into the police force.

During his recovery from his wound, Sean met and started dating one of his nurses at the VA named Shannon who was also in the final year of medical school at the University of California at San Diego
School of Medicine. The chemistry and attraction between the two was immediate and obvious to everyone and soon both were head over heals in love with each other. When she graduated, she applied for an internship at Sierra Falls General Hospital, her hometown. Sean was finishing the police academy at roughly the same time and he decided to apply to the Sierra Falls Police Department. Both applications were accepted and the two moved up the coast to begin their new lives together.

Tragedy soon struck Sean's life for the second time when Shannon, rushing to be on time for her first day as an intern, was involved in a traffic accident with a drunk driver. Ironically, the ambulance transporting her arrived at the hospital at the exact time her shift was to start. Though the doctors tried their best to save her, Shannon's injuries were too severe and she eventually died. Following her funeral, Sean considered moving back to San Diego but decided to remain in Sierra Falls and begin his work as a police officer.

Sean's years in the Corps has instilled in him an intense personal discipline and that carries over into his work. On the job, he is generally by the book with very little wiggle room. Off the job he is reserved and, in the wake of the loss of his girlfriend, somewhat standoffish. He can be somewhat friendly and
personable with those he works and cordial with others but for the most part he remains isolated. Also his years in the Corps has left him with a strong sense of honor. He is honest, loyal, and cannot
abide anyone who is not.

Sean in is prime physical condition, another holdover from his years in the service. He maintains a daily workout regime that he follows without exception. He generally keeps his hair trimmed short and he likes to be clean shaven though his facial hair grows fast which usually means that he almost always has a five o'clock shadow even if he shaved only a couple of hours before. Sean has several scars, most notable the ones on his right leg resulting from his injury in Iraq. Additionally, Sean has several tattoos on various parts of his body.

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