TOWNSHIP 17 RANGE 5 – A 59-year-old man whose body was found outside his vehicle along Route 161 earlier this month died of a broken neck, according to the results of an autopsy.

Maine State Trooper Tim Saucier said Monday that the Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta determined that Raymond Coulombe was alive when he fell out of his vehicle, which went off the road during the evening of Sept. 1.

“The reason his car went off the road will remain a mystery,” Saucier said. “We couldn’t find a reason for the car going off the highway.”

Coulombe’s body was found about 90 feet from his antique automobile at about 8:20 p.m. Sept. 1 by a neighbor who heard a disturbance. The car had traveled several hundred feet off the road.

Coulombe was driving his 1926 Model T Ford south on Route 161. He was just over a mile north of his residence when the incident occurred.

Saucier said Coulombe’s vehicle slowly drifted left out of the driving lane, crossed the northbound lane and went into the ditch on the left-hand side of the road. The vehicle traveled some distance in the ditch, stopping just short of a utility pole.

About 90 feet before the vehicle stopped, Coulombe left the vehicle. Saucier theorized that branches from alder patches at the scene got caught in the door handle, opening the door and Coulombe fell out of the car.

The antique vehicle was not equipped with seat belts.

The unidentified neighbor heard the car crash, went to the scene and found Coulombe. The neighbor attempted CPR, but Coulombe was already dead.

Damage to the antique automobile was minimal. Police said the driver’s side door was damaged, and there were some nicks and dings along the body of the vehicle.