September 20, 2024
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Third victim of crash in County identified

PRESQUE ISLE – The state Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday identified the final victim killed in a fiery crash over the weekend.

Mitchell Cyr, 22, of Presque Isle was named as the third passenger killed in the single-car accident near the Presque Isle-Easton town line, an official with the Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Wednesday.

The office on Tuesday released the names of the other two victims, siblings Michael Hill, 25, and Libby Hill, 21, of Presque Isle.

The examiner’s office has to conduct several more tests, including a standard toxicology report, before it will release a determination on the victims’ cause of death. Completing the tests could take several weeks, the official said.

All three victims’ bodies were identified by dental records, two from the Medical Examiner’s Office in Augusta and one from facilities in Presque Isle.

In total, five people were involved in the accident, which occurred early Saturday morning on the Cleaves Road in Presque Isle, according to Presque Isle Police Chief Naldo Gagnon.

Andrew Ladner, 21, remained in critical condition Wednesday at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Ladner, a University of Maine at Presque Isle employee, received head injuries in the crash.

The second survivor, Travis Bryant, 21, was treated at The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle and released.

Bryant, an UMPI student and Newburgh resident, had cuts, abrasions and a seat belt bruise, the police chief said. He was the only one wearing a seat belt from what police can determine.

Gagnon said there were no witnesses to the accident. Police believe the vehicle, owned by Libby Hill, went off the road, down into a ditch and struck a large rock and tree.

The force of the impact dislodged the rock, and the car then rolled over and caught on fire when it came to rest, Gagnon said.

The victims who were burned in the accident were close to the car, according to the chief.

Gagnon said one victim was found inside the vehicle, lying on the interior roof of the overturned car, when emergency responders arrived.

Two other victims were found 12 and 15 feet from the vehicle, he said. The other two passengers were ejected “very far away” from the burning car.

Gagnon said police are unsure which event in the accident caused the passengers to be thrown from the vehicle.

He said only one of the two survivors is conscious and alert and, though he has some recollection of the event, he cannot remember the details of the accident.

Gagnon said police have an idea of who was operating the vehicle at the time of the incident, but have not confirmed yet who the driver was.

Presque Isle police are continuing their investigation. Gagnon said police expected a completed accident reconstruction report from the Maine State Police by next week.


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