ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, Maine — A 38-year-old Connecticut man killed himself early Sunday morning in the parking lot at the summit of Cadillac Mountain, park officials said Sunday night.
Supervisory Park Ranger Richard Rechholtz said the man committed suicide in his car by carbon monoxide poisoning. The victim was discovered around sunrise by other tourists.
The man was traveling alone and his family had been notified of his death, Rechholtz said.
“National parks can attract people who want to commit suicide because they are beautiful places,” Rechholtz said. “We have our share at Acadia, and it’s always very unfortunate.”
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
A mountaintop to be closer to God?
Too bad he didn’t have someone here on Earth he could talk to about it…SAD
So sad. I hope this man has found the peace he obviously couldn’t find here on earth.
same place i asked my wife to marry me
Thats humerous… I did as well.
Was asking your wife to marry you a suicide of sorts?? (Just kidding…)
Morbid as it sounds, if i had to choose a place to do that, cadillac would be at the top of the list, it is beautiful up there.
Nah! National park suicides are played. Do something different and use Baxter,
Several years ago, Park Personnel found the body of a New York man who shot himself at West Quoddyhead. Never even made the papers.
Would it be possible that he decided to sleep in his car for the night, got cold, ran the car to get warm and died from the fumes? Just another possibility since the BDN has virtually NO details here.
No.
Unless you have inside information, how on earth can you say no?? It is a VERY distinct possibility based on the very small amount of information provided in this article.
You raise a good point. A lot of stories lately have been lacking in details.
I would surmise the man ran a hose from the tailpipe through a window. But readers shouldn’t have to make such a guess; the reporter should include the details, and the reporter’s editors shouldn’t submit the story for publication until the question of “How,” as in “How did the man die of carbon monoxide poisoning?” is answered.
The park ranger who confirmed the circumstances of this unfortunate death no doubt knew what he was talking about.
You are no doubt correct, but one would not know this from reading this poorly written article.
not likely, especially during the summer. During the winter, snow piling up around the tailpipe could cause fumes to back up into the car, but during the summer for that to happen, his exhaust would have been completely plugged, and having driven up from CT, he would have noticed his car acting up.
Valid point, but a simple exhaust leak could create a similar situation over an extended period of time to a parked car if the man fell asleep with the car running. He would not have even realized that fumes were funneling back into the car.
Maybe BDN doesn’t need to go into the most intricate details of how he killed himself?
There are websites you can go to and watch people get killed/commit suicide. Maybe you should check one of those out instead.
I’m not looking for “most intricate details” but some supporting evidence would go a long way in eliminating other possibilities. Otherwise, we are left to surmise what “could” have happened.
One of the things I learned in my classes is that you should not publicize suicides because it encourages those who are considering/contemplating suicide. I wish the BDN would at least include information on how to seek help for those who may be suicidal and reading this.
1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
or for chatting online, which may be more comfortable for some people:
https://www.imalive.org/faq.php
http://www.crisischat.org/faq/
Nothing wrong with asking for help. Thoughts are with those affected by this.
Thank you!
No problem! Took maybe half a minute & I agree it is important.
You are absolutely right that (THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ASKING FOR HELP). It is vital for people suffering from thoughts of suicide for them to be able to talk about it without having to feel stigmatized. So many times these thoughts can be around a temporary set of circumstances or the person can’t see the possibilities around the corner for them. As many people say Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. If we as human beings keep working towards lessening the stigma of talking openly about suicide I really think it could help. My thoughts and prayers go out to this man’s family and friends.
And what classes were those, and what sources did the teachers cite?
There’s a reason this short and sad article is the third most popular on
the BDN today. Reading about suicide may be nothing for you, Ryan,
but this affects many people even those who didn’t know this man.
Perhaps “encourage” is the wrong word, but I do agree with Nicole that
media coverage of suicides can influence people who are suicidal. Not
that we should be sweeping it all under the rug, but definitely
providing a way to get help.
My Forms of Social Influence class through University of Maine- a really enlightening course! Information about copycat suicides and incidences of local suicides after newspaper publications were discussed in the text; if you would like to find out more about it, I can try to find the name of the book.
What a beautiful place to go to sleep forever.
Dreamy post. What a beautiful place to start the anguish and torment for your family for the rest of their lives would be more appropriate.
What right does one’s family have to determine what you choose to do with your own life?
I have grappled with this very issue myself. Both you and Eric have valid points. While I do believe that its your right to live (or not live) your own life, i think it would be incredibly selfish to put family through that kind of pain and torment. Your family possibly never even knowing something was wrong or knowing what they could have done to help.
Which begs the question: Who is being selfish — the person who is suffering and wants the suffering to end, or friends and family who want the suffering to continue (even if they aren’t aware of the suffering)?
Consider euthanasia when it comes to pets. A pet may have a terminal illness. Some people would want to euthanize the pet rather than treat the illness. But that decision is sometimes based on ending the anxiety we feel when we know a pet is dying. I would argue that such people are being selfish because they want their pain to stop, even though the pet may still have interest in its surroundings and a desire to live and is active. Other people would opt not to euthanize until it becomes clear the pet’s quality of life has diminished to the point the pet no longer has interest in its surroundings. A pet owner who makes the decision to delay euthanasia would also be accused of being selfish.
Brilliant, but I think insight is lost on a blind world. Cheers.
Ryan, I’ll bet you’re not married and that you have no children. I believe that if someone is near the end of their life and there’s no medical hope, that they should be able to leave this world in a peaceful way of their own volition. But I don’t think it’s the same when someone is depressed and suicidal. That can be worked on and fixed in most cases. I’ve suffered from serious depression in my past and wanted to kill myself, but couldn’t do it because of what it would do to my loved ones. And now that I’m on the other side, I’m so grateful that I didn’t I would have missed so many great things. Like they say, it’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem. And I think people who do it despite the pain that it will cause their loved ones, do so because the pain is so great that they can’t think of the effect of their actions on other people. So I’ll excuse your immature view of “hey, if you want to kill yourself it’s your own business.” I personally know of three people who have committed suicide — two of them while in their 20’s, and one in her 40’s. And in all three cases, it was a tragedy that these wonderful people didn’t fight harder and stick around.
“So I’ll excuse your immature view of ‘hey, if you want to kill yourself it’s
your own business.'”
I never said that. I simply posed a question for people to ponder.
To quote you, “What right does one’s family have to determine what you choose to do with your own life?”
How do you know what his family is feeling? When my cousin killed herself all the family felt was relief.
People should learn to stay OUT of the business of others.
That works both ways, Mark. How is killing oneself in a public place where unsuspecting, uninvolved passers-by who are just trying to get through their day will have to find the body “stay(ing) OUT of the business of others”? Seems to me that’s a pretty serious case of NOT staying out of the business of others – on the part of the suicide. At the very least, dragging complete strangers into the vortex of one’s Dramatic Exit is a serious party foul.
Yeah right. When I die naturally I will first drag myself off to an isolated area where no one will see or find me.
Death is a part of life.
If you don’t see the difference between natural death and deliberately topping yourself where passers-by who have nothing to do with the situation will have to confront the aftermath, I doubt I can help you grasp it.
If you don’t see that people who find a dead body don’t much care how it died, I doubt I can help you grasp it.
I had a six year old stranger die in my arms, at the scene of a traffic accident. My step-father died in bed after a long illness, I was holding his hand. My mother died at her place of work, I got a phone call from the Lewiston police. You probably can not tell me ANYTHING about death, and how people feel.
Yes, I doubt you can help me grasp that as well, since it’s not true.
Never understood why people cry over the dead… Im too busy mourning the living.
Yep..I agree.
Close down that park! If people can’t get there, it will prevent them from doing such acts.
I doubt very seriously that closing this beautiful park would ever prevent anyone from suicide. You need to be realistic—If a person has it in them to do this, it won’t matter where they have to go to get it done.—Home works just as well.
I did a double take when reading your comment!!
“Close down that park! If people can’t get there, it will prevent them from doing such acts.”
WOW I am amazed partly because of the inference that if we close a breathtaking area like Acadia National Park it would prevent people from commiting suicide. What blew me away more than that is that 10 people liked this comment.
It is scary that people see this as a viable suicide prevention option. If we follow this logic….oh
nevermind it just doesn’t make sense. But that’s just my opinion.
I don’t understand how it is possible for someone to be able to succeed in committing suicide in that manner in a well ventilated area such as Cadillac mountain.
Assuming he used the classic CO poisoning method, location is irrelevant. A vehicle with closed windows is a confined space anywhere you go.