Respectfully snipped by me for focus.
FWIW, and I'm not sure it contributes to the argument here at all, but we do not pay property tax on our vehicles here in NY.
It was reported that the father used to work for the DMV and used to "help" people pass their exams to get licensed illegally. IMO, he probably still has connections there which could help with this sticker situation.
Hi everyone. I've spent the last 5 nights after work reading every post on this thread. I'm a long-time member here on Websleuths and have never really ventured out of the missing people forums, but when I heard about this case I knew this was where to come.
Let me start by saying that this horrible accident is fairly local for me. I'm in Albany, not far from the Schenectady county line and Schohaire is just over a half an hour from me. I've been through the intersection near the Apple Barrel a handful of times just exploring the area. This hill never stood out to me prior to this incident, but I've always been up/down it in a much small vehicle such as a sedan or a small SUV.
Anyways, as we do every year we picked a weekend to go leaf peeping and that weekend happened to be last weekend. We chose Schoharie this year for multiple reasons and our travels did take a past the Apple Barrel. We stopped into the store to look around (something I've always wanted to do but never had the time) and found a lot of really cute items. But it was eerily quiet. Almost so quiet that it was strange to speak. You could just tell that something had happened. After we were done shopping, we exited the Apple Barrell on the side of the accident. There were two representatives from the Red Cross standing next to the large wooden memorial with crosses on it. That side of the parking lot was blocked off by orange cones and yellow tape. There were also plenty of signs up the said "NO MEDIA." We approached the site quietly and somberly to pay our respects. It was very touching to see all of the flowers and the items left behind. Another couple came shortly after us so we left. The Red Cross members did not say anything to us, they just smiled and nodded. I think they were there for support in case anyone who was personally affected by the accident came to the scene.
Even though I did not know anyone in the limo, I do have mutual friends with a few of the individuals which I learned through Facebook. With so many souls, their connections spread far and wide throughout the Capital Region. It seems like everyone I talk to "knows someone who knows X." And we are in the same age group. I will be celebrating my 30th birthday in May of next year. These were my peers and were virtually from the same area as me and for that reason I do feel particularly touched by the incident.
All of that said, I'll be happy to answer any questions I can. I do have more thoughts but I can't think of everything at once. As I was reading this thread I saw a lot of posts that I would have responded to but I wanted to get to the end to see if anyone else did. Now I forget what they were.