Tale of tape
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Jennifer Lehman
Staff Writer
(Feb. 25, 2005) Somebody pushed the emergency button inside the overturned 2004 Hummer the evening of Feb. 5, which subsequently alerted authorities of an accident somewhere on Assateague Island.
According to the 911 tape, which was released Tuesday morning by Worcester County Emergency Services, an OnStar operator told the 911 dispatcher he heard screaming coming from the vehicle, but did not know an exact location of the accident.
“I’m trying to give you a better street, or at least a crossing street, but I don’t have anything,” the OnStar operator said.
"That’s fine. That should be enough," replied the 911 dispatcher. "Did they give you coordinates or anything like that? … Cause there’s not really many streets back there, it’s just an island."
The OnStar operator eventually gave the 911 dispatcher coordinates – 38.21 latitude and -75.14 longitude.
"OK, we’ll see what we can do with that," the 911 dispatcher replied.
According to Robert Fudge, chief of visitor services for Assateague Island National Seashore, the coordinates were not an exact pinpoint of the location, but more of a general area.
"(The rangers) investigated with what they were given," Fudge said on Wednesday. "They looked in an area they thought was an appropriate area. It does sound like that it was very hard for them to get an exact location."
Surfers found the body of 25-year-old Adam Starkey and his partially submerged 2004 Hummer the morning of Feb. 6 – nearly12 hours after authorities received the OnStar alert.
A second body, that of 24-year-old Jennifer Holly Ashe, was found on the beach by a state park ranger on Feb. 7. Her body was located a half a mile south of the Ocean City Inlet and about four miles from the crash site.
According to reports, OnStar sent a distress call to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office just after 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 5. The Sheriff’s Office subsequently alerted Assateague park rangers who, according to Fudge, did a "thorough search" of an area where off road driving on the beach is permitted, but were unable to locate any vehicles in distress.
"They went on an off road vehicle zone to find anybody that needed help," Fudge said recently. He added that during their search the park rangers assisted a couple whose vehicle was stuck in the sand.
The Hummer, which was severely damaged and found submerged in the ocean’s surf around 8 a.m., was located in an area not permitted for off road vehicles. Starkey’s body and vehicle were found on the beach, north of the park’s Sinepuxent Ranger Station.
The state medical examiner has confirmed Starkey died from a leg injury complicated by hypothermia. Ashe’s autopsy, however, is still pending.
In recent weeks, authorities have kept a tight lid on the investigation – revealing very little about what may have happened during the 12 hour period before the two victims were found.
Hummers typically contain a "Sensing Diagnostic Module" device, similar to a black box found in airplanes. Some SDM devices can reveal information such as the speed, how far the accelerator pedal was pressed, if the brakes were applied and whether the driver’s seatbelt was buckled.
However, it is unclear whether Starkey’s Hummer contained one of these devices or if authorities found it.
"That’s part of the investigation," Fudge said. "That’s the sort of thing law enforcement would be looking into."
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