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Post by brassmonkey on Oct 18, 2008 22:25:51 GMT -5
Just say a prayer that his family can find peace. They have been through so much in the past year, and I wouldn't wish their pain on anyone. At least they have closure. This was one of the most somber photo shoots I have ever done.. The body was clearly visible in the window, showing that he was wearing shorts and sneakers, but out of respect for the family, I won't post those pictures.
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Post by homebase on Oct 19, 2008 8:36:07 GMT -5
How tragic!!
I don't know this family but the events you described are gutt wrenching!
May the friends and family of the survivors be given the wisdom, means and time to surround the grief stricken and be able to assist and provide an environment to give strength and healing and find a way to survive through their shattered world.
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kevin
Sergeant
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Post by kevin on Oct 19, 2008 15:47:35 GMT -5
Sad. Prayers go out to the family.
Where was the "accident"? I presume the deceased was the person who has been listed as missing over the last week or so. I saw something about it over in the Backyard, but thread went kinda OT, no details were posted that I saw and now it is completely gone.
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Post by brassmonkey on Oct 19, 2008 18:31:35 GMT -5
Sad. Prayers go out to the family. Where was the "accident"? I presume the deceased was the person who has been listed as missing over the last week or so. I saw something about it over in the Backyard, but thread went kinda OT, no details were posted that I saw and now it is completely gone. Yes, this was that guy. I think his name was Braun. I saw his picture, as well on the Fence. There are so many rumors going around, so I won't even go into all the ones I've heard. All I do know is that he entered the lake through the brush headed into the center of town from the Snowbound Club direction. This is the bridge right in the center of town down the hill from the church. I have the location circled.
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Post by brassmonkey on Oct 20, 2008 7:54:54 GMT -5
An interesting story about the recovery-the dive team had gone out and failed to locate him either two or three times. One time they just did probing from the surface with poles, as the family told them not to dive. But convinced that the car was in there, friends of the family tied car stereo speakers to rope and lowered them down and they stuck to the car, dispelling the assumption that what the dive team felt the previous day was part of the bridge abutment concrete. This resulted in the dive team being re-deployed, and the final time they found it. A member of the dive team told me that they didn't attach that rope seen hanging from the rear wheel in the pic, and that either the family or friends looking for the car must have. Being 14 feet down, the visibility was zero in that murky black water, plus it was buried in silt a foot or so.
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Post by brassmonkey on Oct 20, 2008 8:00:28 GMT -5
Here's one press release:
By George Barnes TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF gbarnes@telegram.com
WINCHENDON— A frantic two-day search by more than 100 friends, police, firefighters and volunteers ended tragically Saturday when the body of James R. Braun Sr. was found in his car under 15 feet of water in Hunts Pond.
Timothy J. Connolly, spokesman for District Attorney Joseph Early Jr., said Mr. Braun, 39, of 70 LaChance Drive, Rindge, N.H., had been missing since early Thursday morning when he left the Snowbound Club at 130 Old Baldwinville Road after a night of playing darts with friends.
Mr. Braun's black 2007 Honda was discovered late Saturday morning by one of his friends, Thomas M. Parker of Templeton, who went out to recheck the pond, which had already been checked with poles by the Winchendon Dive Team. Nothing had been found, so the search moved to other areas.
"I wasn't convinced of it," Mr. Parker said. "As the search went on Friday and Saturday morning, I brought a boat there."
Mr. Parker said he searched the pond in areas the dive team had not looked and discovered what he believed was a car, which was partially under the High Street bridge. Police were called and the dive team returned to the pond and confirmed it was a car. When the vehicle was towed out of the water, the body of Mr. Braun was found inside.
Mr. Parker said he came back to the pond after every other possible route seemed to have been checked. Peter R. Couillard of Templeton, another friend of Mr. Braun, said Mr. Parker would not give up.
"He wouldn't give up on that spot," Mr. Couillard said. "I was there three times and all there was were three pieces of car parts that suggested he was there."
Mr. Couillard said the intersection has seen many accidents and that the car parts could have been from any of the accidents. He said Mr. Parker used magnets on a string. When one of the magnets attached to the car, he dove in and was able to see a tire.
Searchers had little to go on, and a wide area to cover when they started looking for Mr. Braun Thursday morning.
Jodie L. Parker, Mr. Parker's wife, said people came from everywhere to help.
"It was really amazing how many," she said. "There were literally hundreds of people."
Diane M. Hamilton said she and her husband Sean organized the search, first with friends from the Snowbound Club and later connecting with state police, police from several area towns, volunteers who did not know Mr. Braun and even a pilot from Fitchburg Airport who conducted an aerial search.
"Everybody just rallied together," Mrs. Hamilton said. "We were able to bring him home."
Mrs. Hamilton said she and her husband were close friends of Mr. Braun and his wife, Ellen. She said they used to be next-door neighbors on Barre Road in Templeton before the Brauns moved to Rindge a year and a half ago.
Mrs. Hamilton described Mr. Braun as a family-first type of person, a dedicated, hard worker.
"He was a great dad and great husband," she said. "He was just a great, great guy."
Mr. Braun worked for BigBand Networks of Westboro, which specializes in data and voice products.
"He worked in computers and was excellent at it," Mrs. Hamilton said. "He was very smart and very quick."
Amy Balchiunas of Templeton, a friend of Mr. Braun since fourth grade, said everyone liked him. .
"He was the greatest person you could think of," she said. "It's just horrible."
Mr. Couillard said Mr. Braun was in a good mood when he left the Snowbound Club early Thursday morning.
He said it was not unusual for them and others to play darts until the early hours of the morning. What was unusual, he said, was the route Mr. Braun took home: Rather than going down High Street to Winchendon Center, he would normally turn onto Teel Road in Old Winchendon Center and take Hall Road to Glenallan Road, which leads to Rindge.
Mrs. Hamilton said search teams conducted a grid search and covered much of Winchendon, Templeton, Phillipston, but also areas in Gardner and even Athol.
She said she and her husband saw two men fishing at Lake Monomonac and enlisted them to search shore areas of the lake.
Mr. Connolly said Mr. Braun's death is under investigation by the district attorney's office.
He said the medical examiner would review the case to help determine a cause of death.
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kevin
Sergeant
Posts: 127
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Post by kevin on Oct 20, 2008 9:39:17 GMT -5
Thanks. Again, that's sad. I'm glad his friends and family did not give up. Prayers go out to them.
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