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Boat Crash Kills Two on Long Lake -- Search Recovers Victims

August 22, 2007 - Harrison -- The bodies of a man and woman killed when a 34 foot cigarette-style speedboat crashed into their 14 foot fiberglass motorboat just south of Bear Point on Long Lake Saturday night were discovered in the very spot where a veteran Maine Warden Service official predicted they would be found.

Lt. Pat Dorian had said, during a press conference held at the investigation command post Monday, that the couple's bodies would be found in close proximity to their boat's 115 hp Mercury outboard motor.

"Divers located a male and a female approximately 2000 feet from shore in water a little over 40 feet deep, along with pieces of the boats transom, the motor, gas tank and fiberglass," Lt. Dorian told the Bridgton News, late Tuesday afternoon.

"The female victim was located shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday by Warden service diver Rick Stone, and a male victim was located at approximately 11:45 a.m. by Warden Service diver Bruce Loring. The male victim was found approximately 100 yards from the female victim, but still in the debris field where pieces of the boat were found." It was Game Warden Jason Luce who located the 14 foot boat near the crash scene.

Two people in the larger boat were ejected and managed to swim to shore after the collision occurred, investigators said. The speedboat "veered off course, struck the shore and traveled 134 feet into the woods before coming to rest," according to Maine Warden service spokesman Mark Latti. He said divers concentrated its search "in the area where the severely damaged boat was found."

As the team of divers combed the lake for signs of the boat and the victims, wardens, assisted by volunteers from the Bridgton and Harrison fire departments, cordoned off the search area to keep curious onlookers away from the debris field.

"I had the unfortunate task of breaking the news to the family members of both victims," said Lt. Dorian. "Perhaps this will help bring them some closure."

Investigators have been instructed by the Cumberland County district attorney's office to not release the names or hometowns of the two victims or the other two subjects in the speedboat, so as not to taint the integrity of the ongoing investigation which could result in criminal charges being filed.

"We've been restricted, pretty much, but what we can say, by the district attorney's office," Dorian said.

However, friends confirmed that it was, in fact, 55-year-old Raye Trott, of Naples and formally Bridgton, and his companion, identified only as Suzanne, who died when the two boats collided shortly after 9 p.m. on August 11.

Trott was a local musician who often played with the band at Bray's Brew Pub and Eatery at the intersection of Routes 302 and 35 in Naples, where his friend, Suzanne, was employed as a bartender. The female victim's relatives have asked that her full identity be withheld.

"We searched 150 acres of lake bottom," Dorian said, on Tuesday. "We now know the collision occurred 2000 feet offshore. Divers will be back there tomorrow to recover the motor and other parts of the boat. Mechanically, we'll have someone determine whether the boats motor was running or not at the time of the collision. We'll have a marine mechanic check the water intake and see if there is water inside the engine."

Asked at what speed the larger boat was estimated to be traveling when the collision occurred, Lt. Dorian said, "We'll have reconstructionists who have expertise in fatal crashes determine that."

"The investigation is going right straight ahead," said Lt. Dorian. "You interview witnesses, you look very carefully at the two boats and tie up any loose ends, prior to the final outcome. It is the district attorney who will determine what will happen next, whether any charges will be brought and what they will be."

Dorian said 27 law enforcement officers participated in the investigation Tuesday, 17 of whom were divers.

"This has been an amazing case, with the volume of officers we utilized to make this investigation and in locating the victims bodies in the time frame they did," Dorian said. "The officers did an awesome job."

Trott's close friend, David Hines, said Trott was a caring individual who would give you the shirt off his back. Trott, who is a craftsman and love to fish, was proud of his bright red restored antique truck and enjoyed riding his motorcycle. He and his companion were on the lake Saturday night to view the Perseid meteor showers.

Friends gathered at Sydney's restaurant Monday to celebrate what would've been Ray Trott's 56th birthday, toasting him what his favorite libation, they said, to remember a dear friend.

This article first appeared in the Bridgton news, August 16, 2007.


Lakes: Long Lake
Regions: Sebago


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