With Permission
Sarah Graham Addy, 31, left a note on Monday telling her family she was going for a hike in the woods nearby. Soon after, Acela Express Train 2158, traveling eastbound from Washington to Boston, reported having “struck something” around 2 p.m. Monday in Stony Creek. The train did not stop.
“There was no interruption of service at that time,” Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz said yesterday, adding that train service was first “put on hold” when Addy’s body was found Tuesday evening along the railroad tracks just east of Thimble Island Road.
A new timeline in the death of Addy, 31, emerged yesterday as the Eagle sought information from Amtrak, which assisted Branford and state police in their search for Addy, a search that was officially announced shortly after noon Tuesday. Police investigators initially said they believed Addy was struck by an eastbound train “sometimes during the nighttime hours” Monday night.
But Schulz’s information indicates Addy was struck soon after she left her parents’ home at 224 Thimble Islands Road early Monday afternoon. She was not found until 17 hours later. She was apparently visiting her parents, Robert and Deborah Graham at her childhood home, about a half mile from the railroad tracks. At the time of her death she lived in Wallingford with her husband, David.
Schultz said that Amtrak works with local police in cases like this. Sometimes video is available, but he said he doesn’t know the sequence of events in this case “in that level of detail.” In it is not that unusual for a train to hit an animal given the rural nature of the area.
Acela’s reach speeds of 150 miles per hour in some areas; Schulz said the track speed in the Stony Creek area is 60 to 90 miles per hour.
This is the third fatality involving a Branford resident struck by train in the Branford area in less than a year.
Branford Deputy Chief Ronald R. Mullen died last October when he walked onto an Amtrak railroad track and was struck by an oncoming Shoreline East passenger train near Pleasant Point Road in Pine Orchard. And on April 29, Amtrak service was suspended after a “trespasser” was struck and killed on the tracks in Guilford.
Missing Person’s Report Issued Tuesday
The Branford police issued a missing person’s report for Addy on Tuesday, June 14, at 12:34 p.m., saying she had gone for a hike in the woods Monday afternoon “and has not been seen since. Attempts to contact her by cell phone have been unsuccessful, and we believe that she is still on foot in this area.” Police asked for the public’s assistance in finding her.
But it now appears that Addy had been hit by the Acela early Monday afternoon. In general, Amtrak reports are received from train crews to the dispatching office but Amtrak officials issued no statement about having struck something until the Eagle raised a series of questions yesterday.
Branford police found Addy’s body at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, 17 hours after she had been hit by the train. It was only then that railroad officials issued an official announcement that said, “All train service has been delayed indefinitely due to police action. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Joker, the Police Dog, Leads the Way
Capt. Geoffrey Morgan Photo
Meanwhile, it was Joker, the Branford police dog, who gave the police their first solid lead. Joker located Addy’s personal belongings, believed to be from a backpack she carried. Multiple items were found, police said. Joker and his handler, Police Officer Luigi Amasino, had been part of a search team sent out on Monday to find Addy. Joker tracked Addy’s scent but did not find her. State police dogs were brought to the site and could not find her either.
According to Capt. Geoff Morgan, Officer Amasino decided to retrace a previous track, one he first made on Monday. That led Officer Amasino and Joker back to the scene on Tuesday where Joker found Addy’s personal belongings. Sometime later police officers found Addy.
Branford detectives are now piecing together Addy’s life and death. Neither Capt. Morgan nor the family would disclose Addy’s occupation or if she was working at the time of her death. According to an obituary published by the W.S. Clancy Memorial Home, she was married to David Addy and lived with him in Wallingford along with her “crazy cat Cody.” The family referred reporters to the obituary for information, saying they would not answer other questions.
Addy was graduated from Branford High School in 2002, where “she was a scholar-athlete playing soccer and lacrosse.” She then enrolled in St. Michael’s College, a private Catholic college located in Colchester, Vermont. She graduated from St. Michael’s magna cum laude.
Her obituary described Addy as loving music, art, and baking. It says she and her husband “enjoyed their married life together,” sharing a love of nature and the ocean. “They hiked and biked together and their vacations always included the ocean.”
Friends may visit Friday, June 17, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Clancy Memorial Funeral Home, 244 North Main St. A memorial service will follow at the funeral home at 7 p.m. Donations may be made in Addy’s honor to the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter and the Compassion Club.
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