News: Taconic Tragedy TV Special
(Long Island, N.Y.) Two years ago Long Islanders were stunned after a woman drove a minivan filled with children drunk along the wrong way of the Taconic State Parkway. Tonight, an HBO documentary special entitled “There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane,” will air. The documentary attempts to explain why the thirty-six-year-old mother-of-two, and aunt of the deceased little girls, would do the unthinkable by putting all of their lives in danger.
Eight people were killed, including the driver, in July of 2009. The woman had been behind the wheel of her brother’s minivan, which was a Ford Windstar model. The title of the documentary is a phrase that was uttered from the woman’s niece, who called home when she grew alarmed at her aunt’s behavior. The documentary begins at nine o’clock and will last for an hour-and-a-half; it will attempt to capture many perspectives.
Video surveillance at a gas station and McDonald’s, the places of two different pit stops made before the accident, capture the woman and vehicle. Reports stated that the video from McDonald’s was not released, but the one taken from the gas station shows her wearing sunglasses and driving recklessly from the pump. She had exchanged words with the employee, but he never looked up.
Some sources claimed that she ordered chicken selects, an item that was not being served at the time she and the kids arrived at McDonald’s. She also ordered an iced coffee and orange juice, and the gas station footage shows her looking for something in the store. She left without purchasing any items.
She later drove about two miles in the wrong direction; her daughter was killed in the crash and her five-year-old son was the sole survivor.
Her daughter, three nieces, and three passengers in the other vehicle, a Trailblazer, were also killed. Reports stated that she frequently made the trip, one that began from the campsite she attended with her husband and ended at her West Babylon home. Her autopsy revealed large quantities of alcohol, the equivalent to ten shots, and an ingredient found in marijuana; sources estimated that she must have smoked within the hour of the crash.
Reports claimed that a bottle of vodka was found inside the vehicle, but others stated that no one at the McDonald’s or gas station said she was intoxicated. Some believe that the store employees may have denied her intoxication, fearing the possible consequences for doing nothing to stop her. The accident was considered the worst in Westchester County history within the last seventy-five years.
The woman’s husband remained loyal, claiming that she was incapable of putting her children and nieces at risk. He hired an investigator and lawyer to help prove she was innocent of reckless behavior. There was an issue over the release of her medical records, and controversy circled many aspects of the case.
The woman allegedly suffered from severe dental pain, and sources claimed that she smoked pot at night to battle insomnia. Details released about the day of the accident stated that she tailgated, honked, flashed her brights, passed cars on the shoulder, drove on grass, and stopped two times along the side of the road out of sickness.
Several phone calls were made to her brother and sister-in-law after her niece called home. The phone was later abandoned on the side of the road and the woman drove in another direction. Reports stated that police weren’t notified of the accident until everyone in the crash was already dead.
