Three Bodies in Three Months

Old Lyme is a town known for being rather, well, sedentary. Old Lyme prides itself on fine arts, pretty beaches, and everything nice and neat in between. Recently, however, the town has experienced a noticeable increase in rather macabre excitements. In the past three months, that is, December of 2015 until present, three bodies have been discovered within the Lyme-Old Lyme town limits.

It all began in December of 2015. The body of  a man referred to as an experienced fisherman and a “regular” by locals, was recovered in the Hamburg cove on Tuesday the 22nd. The Sunday prior, Hartford resident Julius Thigpen (as he was later identified), had notified his family that he was going fishing. His family notified the authorities that evening when Thigpen did not return home. His boat was located on Monday at 6:00am, before dive teams postponed the search for his body until Tuesday morning. Dive teams located the body in the area near Thigpen’s boat, at roughly 1:30pm on Tuesday. An autopsy was run to determine the cause of death, though no new information has been released. The circumstances surrounding his death remain suspicious as a result of his status as an experienced fisherman.

Only two months later a second body was recovered. This time, the body was discovered on land, and the cause of death was evident as result of impact with a train headed to Boston. The body, recovered on the train tracks near Buttonball Road, was later identified to be James McHugh of Old Saybrook. McHugh was hit by the Amtrack train at around 8:45 on Monday, February 8th, and it remains unclear as to why he was on the tracks. As you may recall, February 8th was the day of one of this winter’s  particularly windy and dangerous snow-storms, further arousing suspicion as to why the man was outside at all.

Less than three days later another body washed up in Old Lyme. This time the body was located in the a river near Osprey Road, Black Hall River. On Wednesday the 10th, at 5:30 pm, police responded to the reports of a body floating in the water and brought the remains to shore. The body was later identified to be that of Charles Carr, a 43 year Old from Middletown. Charles Carr was last seen by his girlfriend on November 25th of 2015. Carr was considered “endangered” by police, and the public was asked for help in locating him in both November and January. According to his family, Carr suffered from both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and took prescription drugs for both. Carr did not have access to a vehicle and his driver’s license was suspended. Carr also had several prior convictions, including felony assault of an officer, possession of narcotics, as well as several other misdemeanors. As of now, police have stated that there appears to be no criminal aspect to the case, however the time of death, and cause of death, remain unreleased.

So while the deaths each hold their own suspicious factors, know that they have been reported to have “no criminal aspect“. Most likely, Old Lyme will remain as, well, sedentary, as ever, though now we are slightly more accustomed to experiencing a few disturbances in our ever-so-placid community.