CORNWALL — Vermont State Police are investigating a fatal, one-vehicle crash in which a Middlebury man is believed to have deliberately driven into the Otter Creek near the temporary bridge that connects Swamp Road in Salisbury and Creek Road in Cornwall during the early afternoon of Tuesday.
At 12:54 p.m. on Aug. 20, troopers were called to the site where a historic covered bridge stood until it burned down three years ago. They found the victim — 67-year-old Joseph H. LaRocque — inside his submerged vehicle. Emergency responders tried in vain to revive LaRocque, who was later pronounced dead upon arrival at Porter Hospital.
Preliminary investigation and witness statements indicate LaRocque made no attempt to avoid the crash or escape the 2009 Hyundai Elantra, police said.
LaRocque’s body was taken to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy.
Responding agencies included the Middlebury Fire Department, Middlebury Heavy Rescue, Middlebury Technical Rescue and the Cornwall Fire Department.