Tragedy and a reminder....think before you post

"PERU — Drivers of two vehicles that collided
head-on early Monday on Route 108 near Valley Road were killed
instantly, Maine State Trooper Jason Wing said.

Killed were a 48-year-old man who was
driving a 1998 Jeep Cherokee west on Route 108 toward Rumford and a
31-year-old woman who was driving a 1997 Ford Windstar minivan east
toward Auburn, Wing said."

Under the SJ comments someone posted the victims names. Although the article stated that immediate family was notified they were with holding information until others could be told. I personally know both victims and one of them was a close friend and classmate of mine. She has a huge extended family that deserved to be told by ones that care about them. It sucks to be 3000 miles away and learn about this on the internet. I got a call literally a few minutes after reading the article. Please sincerely think about things before you post.

You are absolutely right, 911. Total disregard for the respect the police were giving the family. I saw that comment as I was in the middle of something. I went back to suggest removal to the SJ. Someone else had already done it. Maybe several others had. i can only hope that the majority had enough respect for the family to suggest the removal of that comment. I just hope that people will hold off on their speculation of what happened until the police release their report. That way, there will be no speculation.

My condolences for your loss of a friend.

Thank you Z. She had been going through a rough patch and had just moved home and things were looking up for her. She also had three beautiful children. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

I can only say how sad I am for the families and friends of both victims.

The names have now been printed and the family has opened her myspace page for those wishing to leave condolences.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=116229608

What a horrific accident! My heart goes out to the family and friends of the victims.


I don't think SJ should allow comments on stories where the victims are not yet publicly identified. They should be well aware by now that some of their posters are sorely lacking in the discretion and empathy departments.

A couple of years ago, friends of mine lost a teenage relative in a car accident. Yes, the kid was driving the way teenagers often drive, but the family didn't need to be reminded of that over and over again with caustic, small minded, "serves 'em right" comments in the blogs on the Sun Journal and the August paper (Kennebec Journal?). It added immensely to their pain.

Oops. Augusta, not august. Hardly august!

What a tragedy and a hard day for many people...we are all connected in one way or another to each other. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends, and with each of the public service personnel and all else who responded to the accident. There is meaning in everything, even in death. Today I think, take one minute and express appreciation to someone.

I spoke with one of the firemen who had to cut the body of a person they knew from the accident yesterday. It was a person who attended the same high school with them. I also talked to Frank DiConzo who had visited with Chief Wentzell after the accident. We all know it had to be an extremely tough day for the fire department, ambulance, police and everyone involved. An accident like this in a small community hits people in a very personal way. It's hard to know what to write. It's hard to talk about these things. It's easy to say, they're just doing their job, that's what they get paid for. We don't want this kind of pain to touch us. I admit it, I do admire these people for doing what they do...we all have our gifts to offer which make this community complete, and they have my respect for bringing theirs.