Accident with teenagers

Not true

By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: June 23, 2009

BARRE – A 53-year-old Florida woman died Monday evening from injuries she suffered in a car accident last week in Berlin, making her the second person to die as result of the head-on crash.

Karen Keegan, of Clearwater, Fla., died at around 5:30 p.m. at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., where she had been in critical condition since the crash, according to a family friend.

Keegan was one of five people in a car that was headed east on Route 62 at about 6 p.m. on Friday when another car driving west crossed into the wrong lane.

The driver of the westbound car, prominent Bradford businessman and public official George Huntington, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was the only occupant of the car he was driving.

Witnesses told police that Huntington's car crossed the center line into oncoming traffic, but police are still trying to determine why.

There is no evidence that drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident, said Berlin police officer Ed Page. Witnesses said that Huntington was traveling at a typical speed. Huntington's vehicle appears to have drifted to the left but did not make an erratic turn.

"It was not like he was avoiding a deer or something," said Page. "It wasn't an evasive maneuver."

The roads were wet, but there was no standing water on the road, Page added.

It's possible that some kind of medical problem caused Huntington to lose control of the vehicle, Page said, but he is waiting for the autopsy results before making any determination. Page is not sure when he will get the results of the autopsy from the medical examiner.

Keegan was in town last weekend with her partner, Robert Gorges, to attend the Spaulding High School graduation, said John Robarts, who has been friends with the couple for 38 years.

Gorges' granddaughter, Samantha Holland, graduated Saturday, said Robarts.

Gorges, 70, was listed in critical condition Monday at Fletcher Allen Health Care, according to a hospital representative.

Another passenger in the car, Carol Rasmussen, 65, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was also in critical condition Monday.

Barre resident Kelly Holland, 42, was driving one of the two cars involved in the crash. She was in good condition at Fletcher Allen on Monday afternoon, according to a hospital representative.

A 10-year-old Barre girl was also in the car, and Page said he was told that the girl was awake and sitting up at the hospital.

Robarts described Keegan and Gorges as "two of the finest people you could ever meet." Keegan worked at a local fire department in Clearwater, he said, and had a feisty personality.

"She was no nonsense at all. She laid the law down," Robarts said. "She did it with sense of humor but she didn't back down. She had some 'spunk,' I guess is the word."

Huntington, a 68-year-old Bradford resident, was a member of the Bradford Planning Commission and a businessman who owned more property in town than anyone else, according to Bradford Town Administrator Jessica Bean.

Huntington owned George Huntington Enterprises, a company that encompassed real estate, rental units, construction and a car wash, according to the company's Web site.

Huntington was known as an active community member who coached basketball and baseball, said Bean, who had Huntington as a basketball coach when she was a girl. She said he was a "tough but good coach."

"Sometimes he would scream, but you knew what you were doing by the time you finished," she said.

Bean spoke with Huntington about town business the day he died. They talked about a long-in-the-works Bradford sewer project that was discussed at a recent meeting that Huntington missed, she said.

Bean, 30, heard about Huntington's death on Saturday.

"Then everybody in town was calling my cell phone wanting to know if it was true or not," Bean said. "It was shocking. It was extremely shocking."

I dont no who is prtending to be george but u need to grow the f*ck up

geo hunington was a nice guy once you got to know him,,very good landlord!!!i rent from him,,an plan on staying here as long as i can!!!!!