Fatal accident blamed on brake failure

GREENVILLE – The brakes on the pickup truck that carried a local woman to her death in Moosehead Lake last week showed signs of significant failure, police said Monday.

Linda Brown, 56, a seasonal resident of Greenville and Singer Island, Fla., drowned after her pickup truck crossed a busy intersection, struck a curb and sailed into the lake.

Attempts to rescue the woman before the vehicle sank below the surface of the lake failed.

Witnesses said Brown was traveling down Pleasant Street, one of the steeper hills in this tourist community, at about 40 to 50 mph. They also reported that they heard the vehicle dragging something.

“I feel the victim did everything possible to stop this vehicle,” Police Chief Duane Alexander said, based upon the results of an examination conducted on Brown’s Chevrolet pickup truck Monday by state police.

Alexander said the dragging noise appeared to have been made by Brown’s attempt to put the vehicle in reverse or park. He said the vehicle had “significant brake failure.”

A quick examination by a local, state-certified mechanic last week failed to uncover any problem with the vehicle, but an extensive examination by Maine State Police on Monday found major brake problems.

Alexander said the state police charged the system, or forced fluid into it, and uncovered severe problems with the brakes.

Alexander said about 18 inches of emergency cable was missing from the truck. The examination also revealed that the brake pedal apparently had been pushed by Brown all the way to the floor, he said.

State police plan to continue to investigate the accident, but no foul play is suspected, he said.

Mike Boutin, Chris Fenn and Gary Dethlefsen, local men who jumped into the water after the accident in an attempt to rescue the woman, said they repeatedly shouted for her to open her door or roll down her window, but they saw no movement inside the cab.

Witnesses believe Brown lost consciousness before her vehicle hit the water. The windows in the truck were electric and likely would not have worked in the water, they speculated.