Post by valleytech36 on Oct 11, 2005 21:38:47 GMT -5
Body found in van day after accident
Officials at crash scene thought vehicle was empty
BY RYAN DEUEL
Press & Sun-Bulletin
TOWN OF WALTON, NY -- A woman was found dead under the dashboard of a van one day after police and fire officers responded to the scene of an accident just north of the Village of Walton.
Mary Ellen Martini-Butler, 38, of Walton, was found by an employee of a Walton wrecking company after police and firefighters had searched the vehicle without finding her.
Sheriff Thomas Mills said the accident appeared to involve only the van in which Martini-Butler was the only occupant. Mills said nothing indicates foul play at this time.
The sheriff's department said in a press release the ordeal began just after noon Sunday, when a passerby saw a van had run off the south side of state Route 10, about 1½ miles north of the village. The passerby drove back to the village and flagged down a Village of Walton police officer. The officer in turn notified 911 dispatch, which contacted a sheriff's patrol as well as the Walton Fire Department.
Walton firefighters and emergency medical services personnel checked the van and said it was empty, except for some large boxes containing personal items that were scattered throughout the van, the sheriff's office said. The fire and EMS officials also checked the immediate area as well as a nearby abandoned house. A sheriff's deputy also checked the van and found nothing, the sheriff's office said.
Later Sunday afternoon, the sheriff's department called in a tow truck from Fred's Body Shop in Walton to remove the vehicle.
On Monday morning, a worker from Fred's began looking for the van's registration information. The employee also removed several boxes from the passenger side of the van, the sheriff's office said.
That's when the employee spotted Martini-Butler's body under the dashboard on the passenger side of the van. Police, fire and EMS responded to Fred's Body Shop. Dr. Richard J. Ucci, Delaware County medical examiner, pronounced the woman dead at the scene and ordered her body transported to Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton for an autopsy, the sheriff's office said.
The Delaware County Sheriff's Department and the New York State Police are continuing their investigation.
In a press release issued Monday night, the sheriff's department noted: "A number of very dedicated and experienced volunteers responded to this accident Sunday, and in spite of their efforts we still have this tragic outcome. The volunteer firefighters and EMS providers of the Walton Fire Department and the police officers involved are devastated by this tragedy."
Officials at crash scene thought vehicle was empty
BY RYAN DEUEL
Press & Sun-Bulletin
TOWN OF WALTON, NY -- A woman was found dead under the dashboard of a van one day after police and fire officers responded to the scene of an accident just north of the Village of Walton.
Mary Ellen Martini-Butler, 38, of Walton, was found by an employee of a Walton wrecking company after police and firefighters had searched the vehicle without finding her.
Sheriff Thomas Mills said the accident appeared to involve only the van in which Martini-Butler was the only occupant. Mills said nothing indicates foul play at this time.
The sheriff's department said in a press release the ordeal began just after noon Sunday, when a passerby saw a van had run off the south side of state Route 10, about 1½ miles north of the village. The passerby drove back to the village and flagged down a Village of Walton police officer. The officer in turn notified 911 dispatch, which contacted a sheriff's patrol as well as the Walton Fire Department.
Walton firefighters and emergency medical services personnel checked the van and said it was empty, except for some large boxes containing personal items that were scattered throughout the van, the sheriff's office said. The fire and EMS officials also checked the immediate area as well as a nearby abandoned house. A sheriff's deputy also checked the van and found nothing, the sheriff's office said.
Later Sunday afternoon, the sheriff's department called in a tow truck from Fred's Body Shop in Walton to remove the vehicle.
On Monday morning, a worker from Fred's began looking for the van's registration information. The employee also removed several boxes from the passenger side of the van, the sheriff's office said.
That's when the employee spotted Martini-Butler's body under the dashboard on the passenger side of the van. Police, fire and EMS responded to Fred's Body Shop. Dr. Richard J. Ucci, Delaware County medical examiner, pronounced the woman dead at the scene and ordered her body transported to Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton for an autopsy, the sheriff's office said.
The Delaware County Sheriff's Department and the New York State Police are continuing their investigation.
In a press release issued Monday night, the sheriff's department noted: "A number of very dedicated and experienced volunteers responded to this accident Sunday, and in spite of their efforts we still have this tragic outcome. The volunteer firefighters and EMS providers of the Walton Fire Department and the police officers involved are devastated by this tragedy."