Police identified the woman who died Thursday in a car crash on U.S. Route 202 in Monmouth as Karen Dagostino, of Auburn. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file
MONMOUTH — Sarah Coburn was driving down U.S. Route 202 on Thursday, her mind distracted by the flurry of news reports about the fatal shooting that had occurred in Lewiston, when she noticed a black 1997 Chevy Blazer way off the road that seemed to have crashed into a tree.
Coburn, a registered nurse who works at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, knew she had to help.
“Honestly, I was terrified to stop because there was a shooter in the area, and I didn’t want to a get out of my car,” said Coburn. “But I am a nurse, and I thought maybe I could help so I pulled up my car at the same time as I saw police arriving.”
Officials this week identified the woman who died Thursday as 43-year-old Karen Dagostino of Auburn.
The crash happened near the intersection of U.S. Route 202 and Ouellette Lane in Monmouth, one of the towns police actively searched and sent into lockdown during the manhunt for Robert Card.
The Monmouth Police Department got a call about the crash at 12:46 p.m., prompting a response from the department.
While the police and Emergency Medical Services rushed to the scene, Coburn approached the car, which was barely in shape. The front end of the car was pointing to the ground and the back end was tilted toward the tree, Coburn said. No part of the driver was visible except for her arm.
“She was unresponsive, but I could access her arm, so I checked her pulse, which was pretty faint,” said Coburn. “The EMS and the police arrived within minutes, but she pretty much passed away in my arms. It was horrific.”
Dagostino was pronounced dead at the scene. The reason her vehicle went off the road remains unknown and is still under investigation, Monmouth police wrote in a Facebook post. Preliminary investigation has indicated that alcohol or drugs did “not appear to be factors in the crash.”
Route 202 was closed to traffic for almost two hours as the Monmouth PD, assisted by Winthrop Rescue and the Monmouth Fire Department, worked at the scene.
A police report on the crash was not available Tuesday.
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