Body found in CT. on AT

imported
#21

CORNWALL-- Following an investigation and a post mortem examination, the decomposed body discovered by a group of scouts Saturday morning has been positively identified by State police as 46-year-old Richard Aplington of Cornwall.

Missing since April, Aplington’s body was located off the main branch of the Appalachian Trail on the border between the towns of Cornwall and Sharon.

According to Connecticut State Police Troop B in North Canaan, Aplington’s body was found along a hiking path off of Routes 4 and 7 when near a small tributary trail called “Breadloaf.”

The Western District Major Crime Squad has retrieved evidence, including what may be Aplington’s personal effects, from the scene on Saturday. Though the case continues to remain under investigation, foul play is not suspected at this time.

While State police initially began a criminal investigation into Aplington’s death, his untimely demise appears not be homicide-related, police said.

“Initial investigation indicated that the death did not appear suspicious at this time,” said State Police Sergeant J. Paul Vance.

According to Vance, Aplington’s body suffered severe decomposition and identification was made through dental records.

A post mortem examination was completed in Farmington on Monday, but the cause of death has yet to be determined and will require additional studies by medical examiners, he said.

It continues to remain unclear if Aplington was attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail or merely enjoying the local scenery, but local police were alerted to his disappearance some time in late April.

State police have indicated that the incident is not connected to any danger facing hikers in the area, and encourage normal hiking routines to continue as usual.

©The Register Citizen 2003

Eileen

#22

Thank you Eileen.Tattoogranny

tattoogranny

#23

Who this guy is and where he’s from. Thank you Rocalousas.

Gasoline

#24

Hardly appropriate and in very poor form. Try and remember everyone has at some time had a family.

J Cooper

#25

Some pretty cold posts. How would you like to be treated when you reach the end of your trail in life? A little more respect is in order.

Tennessee

#26

I do not have that high of an opinion of myself that I think that making jokes about my death is insensitive. In fact, one of the the best send-offs that I ever heard was John Cleese’s eulogy of Grahan Chapman. (both Monty Python members) I laughed so heard I had tears in my eyes, and I hope that people will do the same when I finally die, cease to be, buy the farm, kick the bucket, go to the great parrot perch in the sky, push up daisies, pass on, am no more, expire and go to meet my maker, become a stiff, become bereft
of life, and rest in peace. Humour remains the one great way to deal with a crisis, and if you think differently, well, sorry… oh, and by the way, did you hear the one about…

Dean.

Dean

#27

Sorry to hear that you don’t have that high of an opinion of yourself. Maybe you should check out one of those Dale Carnegie courses. Meanwhile, if we hear someday that your corpse was found badly decomposed out on a trail somewhere, let’s all have a good laugh. Now before you get your shorts in a wad, Dean ole boy, relax…because I’m just checking out your sense of humor.

Tennessee

#28

You know, i hope my funeral is the funniest damn event my family and friends have ever been to. I’m serious. i hope i see my death coming so i can plan my own funeral. I’m gonna have clowns and a magician, and…and…a boxing match between joe and blue jay.

C-Giddy

#29

Hey Tennessee, shoot me an email…I met you on the trail in Ga. while I was day-hiking… I have been wondering what happened to ya…Mary

Hootie

#30

Making jokes about death is the way a lot of people cope with death. It’s not hurting anyone. The guy is dead so I kinda doubt he really cares. Keep on’:eek:

Bucky

#31

Jokes are more than O.K., they’re essential to good mental health. An absence of a sense of humor (and taking one’s self or life too seriously) is a sure sign of insanity. Bucky’s right, that dead guy’s probably laughing his ass off at Rocalousas’s joke. If it ain’t rotted off already, that is.

Oh by the way … Rocalousas … is I!

steve hiker

#32

Ha ha ha ha… Beleive me, I’m not insulted at all, so you need not worry. I’m not cocky, but I think I’m one of these people who could help Dale Carnegie a bit.
Once I was talking to a doctor as my brother was preparing to move a body out of the emergency ward. The doc, myself, my brother and the other orderly tried to come up with as many euphemisms for death that we could remember while the guy was lying there getting colder. I won. It taught me a lesson. You see, this doc had been fighting a major league battle to bring this guy back in spite of the fact that it was painfully evident that his heart was finished and would never re-start. He went out, changed, came back, and the jokes started… and I realized that this was how this guy dealt with the battles that he lost. Since that day, I knew that when I do finally (insert favorite euphemism here), someone will make a joke or 25,307 to help them deal with it. So be it! And if I go while hiking up Mount Adams NH this summer, I hope that all of you have a great laugh.

Dean.

Dean

#33

BLUE BLAZERS BEWARE…The white blaze purist god may get u if you deviate from the trail heh heh heh.

Cutman11

#34

Enjoyed your post. I like a guy who can take a little good natured ribbing. You sound alright to me. One of my favorite stiff stories is when my mortician brother-in-law picked up a body at the airport on Thanksgiving Day. Then he came to our house for dinner with the body parked in the driveway. Turned out the guy was a distant relative of my wife’s family and this was their way of having him over for Holiday dinner. It kinda reminded me of Chevy Chase putting grandma on the luggage rack of the stationwagon. Anyway, if you ever make it down this way from NH let me know and I’ll meet you at Newfound Gap in the Smokies with a little Jack Daniels, bottled water, a bag of cheeseburgers, maybe a pizza, fried chicken, and a sack of snickers. Happy Hiking!

Tennessee

#35

I noticed a ummm discrepancy in your e-mail. First of all, how can you find Newfound Gap if somone else just found it?
If ever I am down there, HELL YES!!! I’ll accept that offer. I have never been one to tunr up my nose at trail magic. I have an even better story though.

My source for the story was the Montreal Gazette, so I do believe that it was not an urban myth. A man from Montreal aged 80 years old was travelling in a camper on the US west coast, specifically California, when the father died. the distraught son took his father’s body and placed it in the camper and began the long drive home. A few days later he crossed the border into Canada at which point he was asked if he was alone, if he had anything to declare, as well as the kicker: What do you have in the camper. The man, being honest, replied that his father was inside. The border guard had previously asked whether or not the man was travelling alone, so right away he became suspicious, opened the camper and found the father. The police were called, the son was arrested, and the (very short) investigation determined that foul play was not involved. Although it is a felony to transport a cadaver across an international border without the proper permits, the son was allowed to transport his father to Montreal to be buried. Yep, due to the extenuating circumstances, they let him go. Weirrd, funny and touching, all in one story.

Dean.

Dean

#36

Guess he’s “through” hiking for a while… (bwahhahaha)

JeffersonB

#37

that’s pretty good jefferson

C-Giddy

#38

I don’t know if anyone will read this, or be notified of this post, or if anyone will read this, but I’m going to write it anyway. I googled my dads name and the town he died in, seeing if I could find an article about it, and this was the first thing that came up. This is a very bizarre feeling I’m having right now…
I was 11 years old when he died, now I’m about to turn 24. It’s weird, because as these people were making jokes, my entire life was being derailed and changed forever. I’m not mad or judging though, I understand when it’s someone you don’t know, it’s easy to be glib. Hell, i’ve done it myself.
My dad was not a hiker, at least not a serious one. He had severe depression and suicidal ideation for the last year of his life. They never determined his cause of death, which was (and to be honest, still is in some way) devastating to me. But after almost 13 years of reflection I feel that he went up there to be alone, or to try to escape his torment, and succumbed to the elements. Whether intentional or not, I will never know.
I don’t know why I’m posting this. I just wanted to leave my mark here.
This was my father.

Charlotte

#39

Charlotte,
I’m sorry you lost your father. And I’m sorry you were subjected to the insensitivity of some in this forum. I hope your father found some solace on the trail.
Push

Push

#40

Thanks very much for those words.

Charlotte