by David Flint
The death of a North Adams man in the Valley View Pond in Stephentown on April 25 has been labeled an accidental drowning in an initial autopsy report, according to NY State Police. Stephentown Fire Chief Rich Burgess said his department received a call of a possible drowning at the Valley View Motel on Route 22 that Saturday afternoon. Assistant Chief Rik McClave, arriving at the pond two minutes later and finding CPR in progress, took charge of the scene. An Advanced Life Support team from Pittsfield County Ambulance provided assistance and the patient was transported to Berkshire Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
State Police spokesperson Maureen Tuffey said that when Troopers arrived at the scene the victim, Elmer G. Huntoon, 23, was already on his way to the hospital. Nicole and Calvin Eason, who live at the Valley View, told Troopers that Huntoon had gone fishing in the pond about 1:30 in the afternoon. According to Tuffey, the Easons said that they had been acting as guardians for Huntoon who they said was mentally disabled and suffered from epilepsy. Huntoon’s brother, they said, went to look for him at about 2 pm along the shoreline of the pond on the Route 22 side but did not find him. The Easons searched the area at about 3 pm but they also failed to find him. They looked again at 3:30 on the back side of the pond and that is where they found him floating face down in the water. Tuffey said they immediately secured the scene and called 911. The Easons said they did not know for sure but they believed that Huntoon could not swim.
Tuffey said an autopsy performed on April 27 noted that there was no evident trauma and the death was reported as an accidental drowning. Despite some rumors to the contrary, Tuffey said it appears that there is no open investigation and Police are only awaiting the toxicology report from the autopsy.
The Easons declined to comment to The Eastwick Press about the accident.
According to an obituary in the North Adams Transcript, Elmer George Huntoon was the son of Donald Dubreuil of North Adams and Pamela Huntoon of Pittsfield. He graduated from Drury High School and attended the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of North Adams, was a volunteer for the Salvation Army and numerous other organizations in the area and had been employed by several companies in Berkshire County. Funeral services were held on May 1 in North Adams.