Maine State Police said Friday afternoon that they had completed a “vehicle autopsy” of the 1979 Jeep CJ-5 involved in the hayride accident last weekend in Mechanic Falls that killed a teenager and injured 22 others.
The Jeep has been a focus of the investigation into the accident. Police have said it went out of control while going down a long, steep hill and crashed into trees, throwing the driver and passengers riding on a trailer. Investigators have said they believe there was a mechanical problem with the vehicle’s brakes.
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Cassidy Charette, 17, of Oakland, was killed in the Oct. 11 accident and her boyfriend, 16-year-old Connor Garland of Belgrade, was seriously injured. Garland was released from Boston Children’s Hospital on Thursday. On Friday, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said all of those injured have now been released from hospitals.
McCausland said a team of state troopers, motor vehicle inspectors and investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office examined the Jeep, which was impounded and secured in an Auburn garage. McCausland said the results of the inspection of the Jeep will be included in the final report on the crash and will be forwarded to the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office.
He said interviews are still being conducted and there is no timetable for the completion of the investigation, which is being overseen by the fire marshal’s office.
A candlelight memorial was held for Charette, who was a junior at Messalonskee High School in Oakland, in Waterville on Tuesday night.
A memorial service was held for her Friday afternoon at the Thomas College gymnasium in Waterville, the Morning Sentinel reported.
The Charette family released a statement Friday saying it was grateful and “overwhelmed … by the outpouring of support in this community and beyond, for our family and friends and all of those who loved our Cassidy,” according to the Waterville newspaper.
“It is a testament of her incredible life, and the impact she had on so many in just 17 short years,” the Charette family statement said. “While she would be dismissive and embarrassed of all the attention, we are finding great comfort in how people have come together to celebrate her. She was everyone’s daughter, sister and friend. There are no words to describe our loss.”
Garland attended the memorial service, according to the statement.
A funeral Mass for Charette will be held Saturday at Notre Dame Church in Waterville.
Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:
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