Mike Boutin, Chris Fenn and Gary Dethlefsen on Thursday watched Linda Brown, 56, and her out-of-control pickup truck plunge into Moosehead Lake. Immediately all three ran to the water's edge and jumped in fully clothed to rescue her. Their efforts and those of local rescue workers who arrived within five to seven minutes were not successful in saving Brown before she and her vehicle dropped below the surface.

The state medical examiner's office ruled Thursday that Brown died from drowning. The well-known woman was a summer resident of Rum Ridge in Greenville and a winter resident of Singer Island, Fla.

"The worst part of the whole event was being so close and not being able to do anything as the vehicle went down under," Boutin said Friday from a bench in front of Northwoods Outfitters Inc., the store he owns that overlooks the East Cove of Moosehead Lake where the accident occurred. "It was so surreal," Boutin recalled Friday. "I couldn't process what was happening." He said he had been preparing to cross the street with his dog at about 9:20 a.m. and was looking toward the steamboat Katahdin when Brown's vehicle sped from Pleasant Street through the intersection and into the lake.

Witnesses told police that Brown had been honking her vehicle's horn as she sped down Pleasant Street going about 40 to 50 miles per hour. They also reported they heard a sound like a vehicle dragging something, Greenville Police Chief Duane Alexander said Friday. Alexander said Brown's Chevrolet pickup truck crossed the busy Lily Bay Road, sped through the Katahdin parking lot, jumped a curb, hit a wooden railing and then sailed 30 to 40 feet into the air before crashing onto the water. The momentum of the crash sent the vehicle about 40 feet farther, he said.

Despite the heroic efforts of the three men and rescue workers that included wardens, Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital ambulance personnel, Town Manager John Simko, police, and firefighters, Brown's body was not recovered until about 30 minutes later, according to Alexander.

Owners of the Black Frog Restaurant provided Warden Sgt. Dan Menard with a breathing device and he swam to the submerged vehicle, broke out a rear window and retrieved the body.

"Everybody did everything possible with what equipment they had," Alexander said.

State police are expected to study the vehicle since an inspection by a local state-certified mechanic uncovered nothing wrong, Alexander said.

Brown's husband, Ken Leavitt, had been en route to a dog show in Boston when he was told of his wife's death, the chief said.

Angela Hinkley, a friend of the couple's who stopped Friday to check on Boutin and to thank him for his effort, said Brown was a "classy lady." "She was a sweetheart, a very giving lady," she noted.

Boutin said he can't shake the image of Thursday's scene. "It's just a miracle she didn't hit anybody standing on the boardwalk or on the Lily Bay Road," he said. Instinct told Boutin that the driver would be unable to stop the vehicle, so he ran across the road, kicked off his shoes and took the plunge into the lake, he said. Right behind him were Dethlefsen, who observed the accident from inside Boutin's cafe at Northwoods Outfitters Inc., and one of Boutin's employees, Fenn.

All three attempted to swim to the truck but the waves created when the vehicle hit the water moved the truck farther away. "We were screaming to the driver to roll down the window but there was no movement inside the cab," Boutin said. The exhausted and cold men ended up staying afloat on a spare tire that had been dislodged from the truck.

Dethlefsen said he ran as fast as he could to the scene, tossed his glasses off and jumped into the water shoes and all. "I really thought we were going to get her out," Dethlefsen said.

While Town Manager Simko praised the efforts of the men, he said people need to be very careful in such situations. The first rule of any rescue effort is to keep yourself safe. One or all of the men could have been overcome and required a rescue which would have made the task even more difficult for first responders, he noted. He said the response from the Fire Department, ambulance and police was immediate.

"Thank God no one else was hurt or injured in this accident, and we appreciate the help from everybody at the scene," Simko said.
"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Saturday, August 19, 2006 edition of the Bangor Daily NEWS and is used here with permission."