Found Deceased KY - Regina Payne, 59, & Bonnie Mayes, 80, drove to Owensboro, didn't arrive back to the nursing home in Calhoun, 22 Jul 2023

[BeginnerSleuther]

when are cities gonna start putting gates on boat ramps???
so upsetting
RIP dear ladies

I've been saying this for years too. We know this is a problem. Why in the world do we STILL have roads that lead to water??? Boat ramps need gates, at least at night. How many more lives have to end needlessly and public resources spent on "missing" persons -- for decades in some cases -- before people in power realize this?

RIP to these women.

JMO.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Are they assuming an accident and not on purpose?

Nothing to suggest, that I'm aware of, this was on purpose.

 

[?!?]

Nothing to suggest, that I'm aware of, this was on purpose.

What is the difference in evidence between them? If there were skid marks, it would indicate accident (trying to stop in time); if no indication at all, why assume accident vs. purposed?

 

[Tbone144]

Growing up in central MN with lots of boat ramps and lakes, our boat ramp areas that I can remember always had turn around spots because you have to back the boat into the water and parking so you had a place to leave your vehicle and trailer when out boating. They didn’t look like a standard road to continue driving down. I’m going to see if I can find Google earth view of the ramp.

ETA: Google overhead shot sure looks like the north side just dumps right into the river. I can’t do street view on my phone. Once I get to a computer I’ll have a look.

 

[azure]

Boat ramps, in my experience, can be fairly steep. Wouldn't the average, non-incapacitated person (thinking of Toni Anderson, who was heavily incapacitated) notice the change in road grade and slow down? Would they notice hitting the water at this presumably slower speed and then stop? Would they have time to call 911 if they began to drift into the water? I'm not convinced this was an accident.

RP had her mother having dementia episodes at her nursing home at night that she for some reason felt compelled to manage. If she was very close to her mother, as it appears, losing the mother she knew to dementia must have been incredibly painful. Not to mention the stress of the late nights with her. I think it's possible that she couldn't take it anymore.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

What is the difference in evidence between them? If there were skid marks, it would indicate accident (trying to stop in time); if no indication at all, why assume accident vs. purposed?

If there's no indication, then accident is assumed before suicide, IMO. People drive into water sometimes. There would be no skid marks if they didn't know they were headed into water until they were IN water, which is how these cases seem to happen. There's no reason to believe this was suicide. JMO.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

Boat ramps, in my experience, can be fairly steep. Wouldn't the average, non-incapacitated person (thinking of Toni Anderson, who was heavily incapacitated) notice the change in road grade and slow down? Would they notice hitting the water at this presumably slower speed and then stop? Would they have time to call 911 if they began to drift into the water? I'm not convinced this was an accident.

RP had her mother having dementia episodes at her nursing home at night that she for some reason felt compelled to manage. If she was very close to her mother, as it appears, losing the mother she knew to dementia must have been incredibly painful. Not to mention the stress of the late nights with her. I think it's possible that she couldn't take it anymore.

Anything is possible, but until we have evidence to suggest that, I think we need to assume the most likely, which is that they accidentally drove into water. This happens often enough that there are companies who make a living searching bodies of water for vehicles of missing people. It's happened to many people who were "missing" threads right here on WS. People drive on dark roads and don't know they're heading toward water until they get there. By then, it's too late unless they're prepared to get out immediately. In some cases, they have time to call 911 (thinking of the ladies in Maine), but they still drown.

Vehicle found submerged in NH river may belong to woman missing since 1978

A vehicle that was found in the Connecticut River in New Hampshire may belong to a Gorham, N.H. woman who has been missing since 1978, state police said Friday.

www.boston25news.com

Car, unidentified remains found in search for Massachusetts woman who vanished in 1982

Judith Chartier disappeared after leaving a party almost 40 years ago. Human remains, and Chartier's car and ID were found in the Concord River.

www.nbcnews.com

Lost hikers rescued, then die in tragic accident

Pregnant driver made wrong turn and drove off boat landing during heavy rain and fog.

www.usatoday.com

https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/oklahoma-lake-car-bodies/index.html

Found Deceased - CA - Kiely Rodni missing from Party Near Prosser Family Campground in Truckee #10

Thanks for the link. Now we need to see if LE lost key evidence during their vehicle recovery in this case. JMO. We will have to wait and see if they release that info, yes. We don’t know what was lost when the car with open/broken windows was flipped underwater, but it’s safe to say that it...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Ladyotm]

Growing up in central MN with lots of boat ramps and lakes, our boat ramp areas that I can remember always had turn around spots because you have to back the boat into the water and parking so you had a place to leave your vehicle and trailer when out boating. They didn’t look like a standard road to continue driving down. I’m going to see if I can find Google earth view of the ramp.

ETA: Google overhead shot sure looks like the north side just dumps right into the river. I can’t do street view on my phone. Once I get to a computer I’ll have a look.

I looked at it as well on the computer. It looks like a regular road, and is paved right up to the river. If she was traveling at speed limit she would be in the water before she knew it. I didn't see the stop sign the news article talked about. Perhaps it was at the intersection where the roads curved. Interestingly, the roads back there all seem to lead to houses or some place that looks like a business. I would need to go back to check.

 

[Ladyotm]

Boat ramps, in my experience, can be fairly steep. Wouldn't the average, non-incapacitated person (thinking of Toni Anderson, who was heavily incapacitated) notice the change in road grade and slow down? Would they notice hitting the water at this presumably slower speed and then stop? Would they have time to call 911 if they began to drift into the water? I'm not convinced this was an accident.

RP had her mother having dementia episodes at her nursing home at night that she for some reason felt compelled to manage. If she was very close to her mother, as it appears, losing the mother she knew to dementia must have been incredibly painful. Not to mention the stress of the late nights with her. I think it's possible that she couldn't take it anymore.

I agree that is a possibility. This particular boat ramp looks like a paved road that just ends in the river.
I question why she was so far from the nursing home.

 

[Oakie]

Growing up in central MN with lots of boat ramps and lakes, our boat ramp areas that I can remember always had turn around spots because you have to back the boat into the water and parking so you had a place to leave your vehicle and trailer when out boating. They didn’t look like a standard road to continue driving down. I’m going to see if I can find Google earth view of the ramp.

ETA: Google overhead shot sure looks like the north side just dumps right into the river. I can’t do street view on my phone. Once I get to a computer I’ll have a look.

To me this looks like it's not a state-maintained boat ramp....it looks like the road just ends at the river (I assume that there was once a ferry there, many years ago). That road is probably a county responsibility.

 

[?!?]

I agree that is a possibility. This particular boat ramp looks like a paved road that just ends in the river.
I question why she was so far from the nursing home.

ME TOO!

 

[IceIce9]

Boat ramps, in my experience, can be fairly steep. Wouldn't the average, non-incapacitated person (thinking of Toni Anderson, who was heavily incapacitated) notice the change in road grade and slow down? Would they notice hitting the water at this presumably slower speed and then stop? Would they have time to call 911 if they began to drift into the water? I'm not convinced this was an accident.

RP had her mother having dementia episodes at her nursing home at night that she for some reason felt compelled to manage. If she was very close to her mother, as it appears, losing the mother she knew to dementia must have been incredibly painful. Not to mention the stress of the late nights with her. I think it's possible that she couldn't take it anymore.

It can be very difficult to tell the difference between a boat ramp and a road after dark. Often roads near a river or lake are steep as well.

I often drive near rivers and lakes, and I don’t understand why boat ramps don’t have gates. Often there is nothing at all that indicates a boat ramp instead of a road.

 

[IceIce9]

What is the difference in evidence between them? If there were skid marks, it would indicate accident (trying to stop in time); if no indication at all, why assume accident vs. purposed?

Some boat ramps are very steep and short. No time to apply brakes before hitting the water.

Probably the driver did not realize she was on a boat ramp until she hit the water.

 

[MyBelle]

JUL 26

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – Could a road in Webster County be to blame for the deaths of two missing women from McLean County? The bodies of Bonnie Mayes and her daughter Regina Payne were pulled from the Green River on July 25, along with their vehicle, near the Webster- McLean county line. The road authorities say the women were driving on, Wrightsburg Road, ends right in the Green River.

Barricades have since been placed along Wrightsburg Road, just a few hundred yards down from where it is believed the two women drove into the river.

“This is the first time I’ve actually worked anything like this since I’ve been here at Webster County,” says Webster County Emergency Management Director Jeremy Moore.

More at Questions remain after missing women pulled from Green River

Yes, the road is to be blamed and that County lacks common sense! It is inexcusable not to have barricades across a road that ends at the river. Good grief! The was easily preventable accident. May the victims RIP!

JMO

 

[ttcRider]

So, I need to ask whether they got lost heading home? Are these boat ramps just running off from the main street?

 

[Oakie]

So, I need to ask whether they got lost heading home? Are these boat ramps just running off from the main street?

Onton · Kentucky 42455

Make sure you are in "globe view" format, for a good sharp image. It's not a "main street", just a seldom-used country road that ends right at the Green River, south of Wrightsburg.

Here's a google map picture of the spot:

Google Maps

 

[IceIce9]

So, I need to ask whether they got lost heading home? Are these boat ramps just running off from the main street?

After dark it is easy to mistake a boat ramp for a road or street.

Ohio does not mark boat ramps very well, if at all. I grew up in Ohio and my family had a boat. I remember one city in Ohio on a lake where a couple of main downtown streets turned into boat ramps. You would drive just a block or two past downtown and end up on a boat ramp. Not marked as a boat ramp.

Even as a child I remember thinking how easy it would be to accidentally drive into the water. It looked like these downtown streets just ended in the water.

 

[Nancy Drew RN]

If they were driving around in the middle of the night, I'm sure her daughter was exhausted, and probably also distracted trying to get her mom calmed down. It would be very easy under those circumstances to get lost or miss a turn.

 

[Ladyotm]

Onton · Kentucky 42455

Make sure you are in "globe view" format, for a good sharp image. It's not a "main street", just a seldom-used country road that ends right at the Green River, south of Wrightsburg.

Here's a google map picture of the spot:

Google Maps

Can you imagine how that looked at night?