Red Deer Advocate, November 06, 2014

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OUTLAW PETE

SILVERTIPS TAKE DOWN REBELS

The Boss surprises himself with publication of not-quite-for-children children’s book

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Red Deer Advocate THURSDAY, NOV. 6, 2014

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Anatomy of a

WHEN VEHICLES COLLIDE, CPL. JAMES LARONDE AND HIS PARTNER PUT THE PIECES BACK TOGETHER TO FIND THE CAUSE BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF

Determining the cause of an accident is not always as clear as night and day. Often there’s conflicting witness statements or little evidence. But it’s up to Red Deer RCMP Cpl. James Laronde and his partner Cpl. Donavan Gulak to discover what happened. L a r o n d e , a Cpl. James Laronde 25 year-police veteran, is one of a two-person unit that does forensic collision reconstruction in the area between Wetaskiwin and Didsbury. There are only 10 full-time reconstructionists in all of Alberta. They use tools like a miniature unmanned helicopter that carries a digital camera to take aerial photos and survey equipment to take scene measurements. The specialized police officer imports the data into a computer drafting program. The information will piece together the crash by producing drawings or animations. In most cases, Laronde will be able to tell how fast a vehicle was going, which side of the centre line it was on, whether the person was braking before or after the collision, whether the lights were on a motorcycle and ultimately who is at fault. Reconstructionists are mostly called out to serious motor vehicle collisions that resulted in fatalities or criminal charges.

Contributed photos

ABOVE: Last March Laronde was called out the big pileup involving 45 vehicles on Hwy 2 near Millet. A combination of poor road conditions and motorists driving too fast for the road conditions was the source of the multi-vehicle collision. LEFT: Recently Laronde was out at two serious collisions in Central Alberta that were caused by distracted driving. In both incidents, Laronde found the cellphone imbedded in the airbag.

Please see CRASH on Page A2

No sign of Red Deer man missing in Skeena River Safety concerns on Wednesday led search and rescue workers in northern B.C. to temporarily suspend the river search for a missing Red Deer man. Dave Jephson, with Terrace Search and Rescue, said on Wednesday that they have located the Ford F150 truck that Dustin Steele, 23, was in. The truck is in the fast and cold Skeena River, but they have found no sign of the missing man. Steele was last seen on Saturday

WEATHER 30% showers. High 11. Low 2.

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night when he was with two other men in the area of Copper Flats, on the Skeena River, near where it converges with the Copper River, about 10 km east of Terrace. “My understanding is they were down there just play- Dustin Steele ing around on the rocks on the

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edge of the water. It’s a big sand flats and lots of people go down there with either four-by-fours or quads. It’s a common recreational area. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first victim, this isn’t the first vehicle ... that’s gone in there,” said Jephson. “They got stuck in there and the water was too strong and it pulled them in. “Saturday night it rained really hard. The Skeena River’s a huge river. Unfortunately for us and the families, most people that go into the river never come back,” said Jephson, 47. Jephson has 25 years of experience with search and rescue and is also

deputy chief of the Terrace fire department. The weather conditions have been difficult since search and rescue crews were first called out on Sunday. There’s been a lot of rain and wind, leading to the search on Monday also being suspended. But they were back out on the water on Tuesday searching with sonar and were able to locate the truck. They then tried to search the vehicle with a camera but with the speed of the current, they were unsuccessful.

Please see SEARCH on Page A2

NDP urges broader probe of Redford’s team NDP Leader Rachel Notley says it’s time for the auditor general to get to the bottom of the story of Redford and her team. Story on PAGE A3

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BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF


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