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Originally posted by savage1
The guy left her to die. Then why didn't he report the "ACCIDENT" to the police?
On July 18, 1969, after a party on Chappaquiddick Island near the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Kennedy drove away with Mary Jo Kopechne as a passenger in his 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88. According to Kennedy, he made a wrong turn onto an unlit road that led to Dike Bridge (also spelled Dyke Bridge), a wooden bridge angled obliquely to the road with no guardrail, and drove over its side. The car plunged into tide-swept Poucha Pond (at that location a channel) and came to rest upside down underwater. Kennedy was able to swim free of the vehicle, but Kopechne did not. Kennedy claims he tried several times to swim down to reach her, then rested on the bank for several minutes before returning on foot to the Lawrence Cottage, where the party attended by Kopechne and other "Boiler Room Girls" had occurred.
Joseph Gargan (Kennedy's cousin) and party co-host Paul Markham then returned to the pond with Kennedy to try to rescue Kopechne. Although there was a telephone at the Lawrence Cottage, nobody called for help. When their efforts to rescue Kopechne failed, Kennedy decided to return to his hotel on the mainland. As the Edgartown-Chappaquiddick ferry had shut down for the night, Kennedy swam across the 500-foot channel, back to Edgartown.
Kennedy discussed the accident with several people, including his lawyer and Kopechne's parents, before he contacted the police 10 hours after the accident.
The next morning, the police recovered Kennedy's car. Kopechne's body was discovered by diver John Farrar, who observed that a large amount of air was released from the car when it was righted in the water, and that the trunk, when opened, was remarkably dry. These observations coupled with the position that the diver found her body (with her head toward the floor of the car where any trapped air would be because the car was lying on its roof) have led some to believe that Kopechne had not drowned, but suffocated in an air pocket within the car. No autopsy was performed and the precise cause of death is unknown.
Joseph Gargan (Kennedy's cousin) and party co-host Paul Markham then returned to the pond with Kennedy to try to rescue Kopechne. Although there was a telephone at the Lawrence Cottage, nobody called for help. When their efforts to rescue Kopechne failed, Kennedy decided to return to his hotel on the mainland. As the Edgartown-Chappaquiddick ferry had shut down for the night, Kennedy swam across the 500-foot channel, back to Edgartown.
Kennedy discussed the accident with several people, including his lawyer and Kopechne's parents, before he contacted the police 10 hours after the accident.
The next morning, the police recovered Kennedy's car. Kopechne's body was discovered by diver John Farrar, who observed that a large amount of air was released from the car when it was righted in the water, and that the trunk, when opened, was remarkably dry. These observations coupled with the position that the diver found her body (with her head toward the floor of the car where any trapped air would be because the car was lying on its roof) have led some to believe that Kopechne had not drowned, but suffocated in an air pocket within the car. No autopsy was performed and the precise cause of death is unknown.
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