Quarry victim's son wants body removed politely told to go home

Quarry victim's son wants body removed Saturday, January 22, 2005 - Bangor Daily News

ROCKLAND - Justin Dennison walked into City Hall early Friday, plunked a wad of cash onto the counter and implored authorities to remove his mother's body from the quarry where her SUV sank the day before. He was politely told to go home.

Authorities believe Dennison's mother, Llynne Haskins, 46, of Rockland, died Thursday morning when her Chevrolet S-10 Blazer skidded out of control on the snow-covered Old County Road and rolled into the quarry. The car plummeted 100 feet to the ice-covered surface, broke through and sank in an estimated 105 feet of water.

A state police dive team determined that it would be unsafe to place divers in the water under winter conditions. Team commander Matt Grant said the divers were prepared to return in the spring and try to recover the body when the ice was gone.

"I just went down to City Hall and threw $8,000 on the counter, saying, 'I want my mother's body back so I can give her a decent burial,'" Dennison said. "This is a horrible tragedy and that road is terrible. Something has to be done and the city has done nothing in the past." Haskins lived on the road where her SUV entered the quarry.

Although state police have put the recovery of Haskins body on hold, the city is searching for ways to assist the family.

City Manager Tom Hall said Friday that he is hopeful a commercial dive company can be found that would be able to take on the job. Hall said he also hopes that Haskins' insurance company will assist in the recovery. Hall said a specialist with the proper gear and the skill to dive to depths in cold weather would be needed to recover the body.

"I want to do what's appropriate to accommodate their needs," Hall said. "We'll do everything that's appropriate and try to expedite this thing to assist in the recovery."

Though the city owns the quarry, Hall said, it is uncertain whether the city's insurance company will participate in the recovery. He also said that the city is not prepared to cover the cost.

"I don't think that it is our responsibility to do it," he said. "It sounds awfully callous, but I don't want to be left holding the bill."

Dennison, 28, of Rockland has had his own encounter with another one of the city's quarries in September 2002.

He said he lost control of his pickup truck on a rainy night and found himself skidding over the edge.

Unlike his mother, he said, he was able to jump free of his vehicle and land in the quarry. He suffered a broken hip and cracked ribs. He was cited by city police for driving to endanger, sentenced to two weeks in jail and ordered to pay the cost of his rescue.

"The city covered up an unsafe roadway on me, and now they're doing the same thing to my mother," said Dennison. "My mother died the way I should have died two years ago. It's a dangerous part of road."

The quarries are a daily reminder of the era when limestone was extracted from the midcoast area and Rockland was known as the Lime City. Old County Road is pocked with abandoned quarries, from Thomaston to Rockland. In many places the road is narrow and drivers can simply look out their windows into the deep pits. The quarries have claimed many lives over the years.

Hall said the road is the responsibility of the state Department of Transportation. He said the city has had discussions with the department for years about improving safety along the road, but in many spots the quarries encroach on the travel lane on both sides. He said it would be difficult to install barriers at those areas because the road is too narrow.

"How do you put in safety features in places like that?" Hall said. "I don't know what the solution is, but I think it would behoove the city to sit down with the DOT and certainly talk about trying to improve that stretch and talk about Old County Road."

Dennison said the family lives a short distance down the road from where his mother's car entered the quarry and can look out their window and see where she left the road. Details about Haskins' other family members were not immediately available.

Dennison said his mother was taking her cat to the veterinarian when her vehicle left the road. He said he ran to the accident scene after the veterinarian's office called to ask her whereabouts. Dennison said he saw items in the road that he knew came from his mother's truck.

"I said, 'That's my mother down there,'" he said. "She went over the wall, busted through the ice and was gone. The only thing I loved in the world was my mother and she's gone. I don't want to leave her there."

Because of uncertainty about removal of the body, no funeral plans were available.

Yes here is the followup. The county still seemed to have a 'wait until May' attitude. There is a real safety problem caused by the numerous abandoned quarries in the area east of Bangor. Roads are poor in Maine, narrow with no sholders, weather is frequently brutal, and a moment's inattention or just plain bad luck during lousy weather can get you a trip over the brink into one of these water filled quarries.
Diver recovers body of woman Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - Bangor Daily News Avg. User Rating Email This Article To A Friend Print This Article Go Back BDN photo by Gabor Degre A vehicle is pulled from an abandoned quarry on Old County Road in Rockland on Tuesday. The body of driver Llynne Haskins, who died after her SUV skidded off the cliff into the quarry last Thursday morning, was also recovered Tuesday. ROCKLAND - A recovery team using chain saws cut through the foot-thick ice atop an abandoned limestone quarry Tuesday, and then a diver slipped beneath the surface and quickly found the body of a local woman whose Chevy Blazer had plunged into the water five days earlier. Llynne Haskins, 46, had been taking her cat to a veterinarian last Thursday morning when she apparently lost control of her blue sport utility vehicle on Old County Road. It rolled over a stone wall and plummeted 60 feet before crashing through the ice in the city-owned quarry. Her body, still inside the SUV, was recovered from water about 35 feet deep about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. It was unclear whether the cat was recovered. Last week, authorities had said they thought the SUV was in 105 feet of water and that they would not try to recover the body until spring. But Haskins' sons, Justin Dennison, 28, and Stanley Dennison, 30, said they were determined to retrieve their mother's body - with or without permission from the city - for a proper burial. "I don't want the car. I want her," said Haskins' younger brother, James Makie, 39, earlier Tuesday. At first, the city turned down a recovery effort by a diver who had entered the quarry to take a measurement of the water's depth where the vehicle went through the ice. Diver Greg Canders of Bangor used a line and weight to determine the depth, Stanley Dennison said. "We just want people to know his efforts. What nobody would do, he did in 20 minutes," Dennison said. Some 40 people stood at the edge of the quarry for nearly five hours in the bitter cold Tuesday while divers from Sea Ventures Inc. of Port Clyde and Art Henry's Crane Service of Thomaston conducted the recovery operation. The cost of the recovery is expected to be about $10,000, which will be paid by the family, Makie said. An accident reconstructionist has been hired as well, he said. Haskins' aunt, Nancy Beal of Rockland, said the family is looking into whether Haskins' motor vehicle insurance will cover any recovery costs. The family is also planning to have an autopsy done, which they will pay for. Divers began Tuesday's operation around 10 a.m. in 23-degree air temperature as 24 mph winds blew steady. With chain saws, the team cut a 10-foot by 10-foot opening in the ice before a diver went down. David Sinclair, a retired Maine State Police lieutenant who was commander of Troop D in Thomaston from 1989 to 1995, slipped into the icy water and found the SUV wedged in an area near where the depth gradually drops off. After a crane pulled the vehicle from the water, dive team members covered the vehicle with a tarp once it was lowered onto the top of the ice. Haskins' body was removed, and the SUV was lifted to the top of Old County Road, where a flatbed tow truck was waiting. The decision last week to leave Haskins' body until spring prompted considerable reaction in the area. "The city of Rockland and the state's trying to save a dollar," Makie said. "If that was the mayor or a city councilor, they would have been out there that day." During Tuesday's lengthy recovery, family members, friends, city officials and reporters watched from precarious spots around the quarry. More than once City Manager Tom Hall, at the scene, voiced concern about the potential for another accident. A City Council member at the scene, Brian Harden, said the state needs to begin looking at safety issues around the quarry. "I've lived near these quarries all my life, and I've always thought they should be filled," he said. Hall said he had received a voice mail message Tuesday morning from Damariscotta lawyer Edward Dardis, who informed Hall of the intended recovery. Dardis represents Haskins' family. When Hall attempted to contact Dardis, he was in court. Hall said he gave permission for access to the quarry at 3 p.m. Monday, but that "I was absolutely clear that I didn't have the authority" to authorize a recovery, he said. "The city isn't actively involved or condoning ... the operation here," Hall said later Tuesday. After the recovery, Hall said he was "pleased the family has closure." Burpee Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home was at the scene. A funeral is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday. The family plans a motorcade from the funeral home, past the spot where Haskins' vehicle rolled over the barrier wall. BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY GABOR DEGRE

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