WEST FORKS PLANTATION — Martin Poulin and Francine Dumas left Saint-Georges, Quebec, a week ago for a wedding in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.
They crossed the border into Maine at Jackman Station at 10:38 a.m. July 28, according to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.
They never made it to New Hampshire, and their family began searching for them the next day.
Their bodies were found in their car by family members early Tuesday afternoon in West Forks Plantation, victims of an accident.
The accident site is about 35 miles south of the border crossing at Jackman Station on U.S. Route 201, which is the main route from Quebec into Maine and points south.
Police said the 2005 Nissan Altima, traveling south on the two-lane highway, went off the road and struck a tree. The tree fell onto the car, hiding the wreck from view.
Family members Tuesday afternoon flagged down Somerset County Sheriff Lt. Carl Gottardi on U.S. 201 after finding the car about four miles north of West Forks village and Berry’s General Store.
Family members started looking for the couple, both 58, last week when they failed to arrive in New Hampshire as expected, police said. The relatives filed an official missing persons’ report Tuesday, and the Quebec provincial police notified authorities in Maine about the search. Information about the date of the wedding the victims had been expected to attend was unavailable.
Family members were at the scene Tuesday afternoon, but they didn’t want to speak to the press. Police said the family speaks French, so a language barrier was hampering interviews with them.
Police think the accident occurred the same day the couple crossed the border, noting that their cellphones and credit cards had not been used after they entered the United States, according to the sheriff’s department.
Police said they don’t know why the car initially went off the road. The two-lane road rises slightly near the scene but is mostly straight. The speed limit there is 55 mph. The road from the border to The Forks, about 40 miles south, is the Old Canada Road Scenic Byway. Only one house is visible from the crash location, and it is not close to the site.
Police said the investigation is continuing.
Giberson Funeral Home of Bingham and Madison removed the bodies.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter: @Doug_Harlow
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