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Search continues for fatal hit-and-run driver
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 01/18/2008

NEW VINEYARD -- The motorist killed Wednesday night in a multi-vehicle crash on Route 27 was Steven McKinney, a longtime employee at Sugarloaf/USA, police said Thursday.

McKinney, 55, of New Portland, died of blunt trauma when timbers fell off a poorly secured load on a southbound truck Wednesday evening and struck his Ford Festiva. McKinney's compact car was crushed when a 12- to 16-foot-long beam slammed into his car, police said.

A falling timber also destroyed a northbound 1991 Saab driven by Katherine "Kitty" Jones, 41, of Camden. She and her 10-year-old daughter narrowly escaped injury.

Reached Thursday by phone, Jones said she was still shaken by the near-miss that could have killed her and her daughter, and she was unable to talk about the experience.

"We were just very lucky," she said.

Police say Jones had had no warning before the crash, which occurred at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Jones was bound for Carrabassett Valley when her car was struck by one of the beams as it fell from the truck. Police said the impact sent the wood through the front grill and engine compartment of Jones' vehicle.

The timber tore through the hood, stopping just short of the windshield, police said.

The truck was hauling a load of 12- to 16-foot-long beams south on the two-lane highway when a dozen frozen timbers slid out of the back.

The driver of the truck failed to stop, and on Thursday, pleas in the media for him or her to come forward were unsuccessful, said the investigating officer, Franklin County Sheriff's Cpl. Steve Charles.

"But thanks to the public we received some good solid leads that we are following up on," Charles said Thursday night.

A third car was damaged when it drove over one of the beams in the road but the driver was not injured, police said.

Firefighters from New Vineyard, Farmington and Strong assisted with rerouting traffic and getting the timbers onto a flatbed truck from Bryan's Auto Body in New Vineyard. The well-traveled road was closed until after 10 p.m.

The accident occurred along a slight curve in the road near the intersection with Basin Road, the site of several serious accidents over the years and the same location as a fatal crash in October that killed Terry Richardson, Jr., of Dover-Foxcroft.

Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991

bjespersen@centralmaine.com

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Reader comments

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jane mullin of embden, ME
Jan 19, 2008 5:53 PM
Coward??? At the time of the distribution of the paper, they probably already knew who did it. The guy probably did not know that he had lost the wood. These trucks do not always know when part of thier load is lost,until they stop and if he was headed out of state, it would take a long time before they knew. I am sure this guy did not wake up in the A.M. ready to go to work and decide he was going to go do some harm to someone that day. I am sure that he is as traumitized as the people that lost thier loved one. Please have some feelings for both parties,and stop the accusations when you do not even know what is going on.report abuse
Hermann Munster of AmishLand, PA
Jan 18, 2008 4:26 PM
Somewhere, somehow, a timber or lumber company is short on a load. Why is that company not stepping forward? Afraid they might get sued for wrongful death?? Cowards.report abuse
L M of Augusta, ME
Jan 18, 2008 11:28 AM
I just saw today's newspaper, and once again, the Editors of the KJ have chosen to print... on the front page... a picture of the vehicle in which the fatality was.

I wonder how they would feel if that was a family member or a friend of theirs?report abuse
AMomFirst of Winthrop, ME
Jan 18, 2008 11:03 AM
I hope that they find this coward soon!report abuse

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