Investigators are counting on a vehicle autopsy by state troopers to shed light on what caused a Jeep CJ-5 that was towing a trailer for a haunted hayride to go out of control and crash Saturday night, killing one person, but that forensic examination has yet to be scheduled.

The mechanical inspection will be performed by reconstructionists with the Maine State Police traffic division, either at the state facility on Crosby Road in South Portland or at the State Police Crime Lab in Augusta. Investigators were in the process of obtaining search warrants before conducting the inspection.

The 1979 Jeep, which is green with a yellow roll bar, has been impounded and is being held in Auburn. The vehicle was registered as a farm vehicle, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

State Fire Marshal Joe Thomas said investigators will look at the brakes and whether the load being towed by the Jeep exceeded its rated capacity. A vehicle’s rated towing capacity considers how much it can haul as well as how much weight it can stop effectively with the brakes that are installed, Thomas said.

Twenty-two passengers were injured on the haunted hayride Saturday night at Harvest Hill Farms in Mechanic Falls. According to a witness and investigators, the trailer started racing down a hill, along a gravel farm road lined with trees, and then crashed into a tree. The ride was nearing the end of its route and had made several other trips already during the evening.

The crash killed 17-year-old Cassidy Charette of Oakland and injured the driver and the other 21 passengers, police said. Investigators have determined there also were a few other people on the ride that did not require medical treatment.

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Charette’s boyfriend, Connor Garland, 16, of Belgrade, was taken to Boston Children’s Hospital after the crash and he is in fair and stable condition, Thomas said. A Facebook page created to support his family, Help the Garland Family! Messalonskee Strong!, reported that he underwent surgery Monday.

Another passenger, Tia Sprague, was in fair condition at Maine Medical Center in Portland on Tuesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Another woman, whose name has not been released by police yet, was taken to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. She has been listed in stable condition.

Investigators on Tuesday released few other details about the crash, saying that while many people have been interviewed, there were still a few people that they planned to talk to as they developed a timeline of what happened.

“Nothing more has surfaced than what we already know or believe,” Thomas said Tuesday. “Nothing has come out as any surprise to us as far as circumstances we’re looking at.” Thomas said he was unaware of any obvious defect in the Jeep, such as a broken brake line.


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