Such an odd place for a vehicle to go over - be it accident, suicide, OR foul play! I truly thought the Jeep would be found off of the W or another curvy road.
Couple things. There are ways to send a vehicle over a ridge without ramming it. Put it in neutral and push it, or weigh down the gas pedal, and there's something you can do on the engine, though it escapes me at the moment. I know it's being reported that the Jeep took that boulder over with it, but I'm not sure about that yet. I don't have enough information to accept or reject that. Did the Jeep have front end or undercarriage damage consistent with hitting / dragging a 400+ lb boulder, has anything been reported on that yet? I've only heard about the extensive back end damage?
Yes, it's a strange / risky place to dispose of a vehicle if you're involved in the demise of the vehicle's owner. But it's also a really strange place to have an accident or commit suicide.
The black box contains a lot of information on how the crash happened, but it can't tell us WHO caused the crash. It can't tell us if the driver was intoxicated, unconscious, or perfectly alert. It can tell us if the driver was wearing a seatbelt or not, but not if that was a conscious choice on the part of the driver.
I'm more confused than ever, LOL. I'm still gobsmacked that the Jeep was found where it was. I am leaning less towards the accident scenario now that I've seen where the Jeep went off, but IDK...
...Peace to Gail's children, friends and loved ones...
I continue to be amazed that she was able to navigate Hampton from the Walden Town limit sign to the point she went off the brow. I drove it again today (only the 2nd time ever) just to see if my impressions changed since I knew what to expect this time. The answer is no. Hampton from Taft Highway to the end of the Signal Mountain Town limits has a completely different feel (easy) than from that point to the East Brow Road intersection (treacherous). The contrast caught me completely by surprise the first time, as I'd always assumed the road was about the same all the way.
At the intersection with East Brow, I almost breathe a sigh of relief to finally have a decent stretch of road ahead, and I must say the view is beautiful. Yes, it curves around later, closer to the W Road intersection, but that's beside the point.
What this all tells me is that she was not an impaired driver, and that if it were an accident, something had to happen to force her to jerk the wheel at about the unluckiest moment possible. That's not to say it isn't possible, but the mental picture I had of her driving in a state of emotional upset and wrecking due to lack of focus on her driving does not work for me anymore, since she made it that far.
On East Brow, so much of the road IS protected with rock wall and guard rail. It's an amazingly short distance from the Hampton intersection to the point where she left the road. The detail about the boulder doesn't make any sense to me yet.
I saw in today's report in the Times Free Press the reference to a 23 minute gap between dropping off the children and going off the brow. That doesn't leave much time for variables. It's appearing to me that she took the shortest route possible from home to the bluff, and I'm still guessing that the convenience store stop was the store on the corner of Taft and Hampton, and that it was not a shopping trip but maybe instead a stop to talk on the phone and/or think.
I'm still wondering just how much of the final report will (or should) be released to the public. I'm doubting we'll ever get all the answers, but I do think the case will have been analyzed to the nth degree before it's closed, and that's good enough for me.
Prayers for the family and friends.
