My new home is a small, fairly quiet little village. It is very safe; I have no fear of walking about in the evening when it is dark and I know some people don't even lock their doors. Not much of a sensational nature takes place, which is just fine. People are still talking about the three car accident that happened in front of the funeral home (insert joke here) and that was well over three weeks ago.
We now have something new to discuss. In the wee hours of yesterday morning, we awoke to the sound of a helicopter circling overhead. To be truthful, I woke up when James got out of bed to look out the window. The clock showed the time of 2:08. James said that the helicopter had been overhead for 10-15 minutes. When he looked out the front window, he saw a police officer walking up and down the street, shining a spotlight on first one side, then the other of the road. Oy.
Looking out the back windows, we could see that the helicopter was shining its spotlight on this side of the Seneca River. Between the helicopter and the police officer, we felt just a bit unsettled, as you might imagine. I called the police station and asked what was going on, and should I be concerned? All that I was told was that there was a car accident and before I could ask "but why is there an officer shining a spotlight on the front of my house" the answering officer ended the call. Just a car accident? Right.
The helicopter stayed overhead for about 90 minutes, numerous police vehicles went back and forth, and there were more foot patrols. When it quieted down around 3:30, we went back to bed...although going back to sleep took much longer. We still, after all, had no idea what had happened.
The officer with whom I spoke was truthful, to a point: there had been a car accident, only the vehicle was being pursued by police at the time that it drove into the Seneca River. Later reports revealed that the pickup truck was stolen from a home about fifteen miles north of here and it was being pursued by state police because of speeding.
Strangely, no trace of the driver has been found. There was no body in the truck when it was pulled from the river and sonar was used yesterday to search the river. I am surprised that a house to house search in the immediate area was not undertaken, since the houses here are generally older and have outbuildings, detached garages and even cellars/basements with outside access. Or, perhaps because we are a full block away, we are not considered to be in the immediate area. I, however, conducted my own little search of our communal garage! Flower, the dog that lives with the family in the end unit, was outside yesterday morning and barking a bit more than usual, so I thought I should look...what a sight, me armed with a flashlight and a mobile phone!
I was very good yesterday and resisted the urge to walk down the street to watch the activity. State police were out yesterday morning when the bus came, but when they learned where I lived, they had no interest in speaking with me. Subsequent news reports have yielded little information and the truck is being evaluated for any clues to the missing thief.
It is safe to say that we are going to be talking about this incident for a long time!
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