Thick fog probably caused driver to take wrong turn and drive straight off a pier into Newport Harbour, Rhode Island
Three Women were killed in a road accident on Thursday night (4 October) after a wrong turn sent them plunging into Newport Harbour. The victims have been named as American-born Jennifer Way, Louise Owen (UK) and Femmetje Staring (The Netherlands), all 39-years-old. Ms Way worked as yacht manager for Marine Construction Management. Further details of the other two women have not yet been released.
Their car, a red Hyundai, fell into the harbour and landed on its roof. Part of the vehicle was sticking out of about four feet of water when it was discovered around 06:30 at the Newport Shipyard – a privately owned marina near several of the tourist city’s largest hotels and vacation condo complexes – by a fuel deliveryman.
The following is a statement from Peter Wilson of Marine Construction Management (MCM):
“All of us at MCM are desperately sad at losing our colleague Jennifer. Jen had her 10th anniversary with us earlier this year and during this last decade, we saw her blossom and develop into the amazing, kind, caring, confident and knowledgeable woman she became. She started with us in the receptionist’s position and grew to become an essential part of our Yacht Management division. A tremendous, unswerving and diligent employee, but more than that, a dear, dear friend.
We are a small and tightly-knit family at MCM and losing Jenn leaves a cavernous void. The other two women with Jennifer on Thursday night, Femmetje and Louise were also astonishing, bright, delightful women. Losing any one of these remarkable women would be sad enough, but to lose all three as a result of this one heartbreaking accident causes devastation of immense proportions.
The global yachting community is small and news such as this travels fast. As a result, calls, emails and messages of condolence have been flooding in from every corner of the world. All three women were highly respected in their fields and enormously well liked. We will miss them all terribly….”