UPDATED: Two Women Killed in Southeast Crash
The identities of the two female passengers that died in Friday’s car accident along Route 312 in Southeast have been released.
The operator of the car was 66-year-old Merrill H. Spaeth of 65 Van Wyck Lake Road in Fishkill. The passenger in Spaeth’s car was her mother, 92-year-old Marion S. Hunting of 19 Tonetta Lake Way in Brewster.
The identities of both victims were originally withheld pending the notification of their families.The cause of the crash has not yet been determined. The accident remains under investigation by members of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Accident Reconstruction Team.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Two female passengers involved in a one-car motor vehicle accident were pronounced dead early Friday afternoon, police report.
According to a statement released by Putnam County Sheriff Donald B. Smith, deputies from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 9-1-1 dispatch of a “serious personal injury auto crash” around 1:30 p.m. Upon arrival, Deputy William Quick observed that a four-door sedan crashed into a tree. According to the police report, both the driver and passenger were in a unresponsive state.
“Preliminary investigation reveals that the car was traveling westbound on Route 312, when it drove off the right shoulder of the roadway, colliding with a tree,” the statement read.
Though the identities of the passengers remain unknown, a report by LoHud.com reporters James O’Rourke and Terence Corcoran reveal that one of the passengers was middle-aged, and the other an elderly woman. Authorities will not release the women’s identities until their families have been properly notified.
The two adult occupants were removed from the wreckage by firefighters and transported to the Putnam Hospital Emergency Department by two Brewster Fire Department ambulances. Both were later pronounced dead at the hospital. Additional deputies and Sheriff’s investigators, along with state troopers, TransCare paramedics and members of the Brewster Fire Department responded to the scene.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.