Decades after three teenagers from Cape Breton died in a tragic train incident in Maine, their families are still searching for answers and calling for a thorough review [cite: CBC News]. Kenny Novak, 15, David Burrows, 17, and Terry Burt, 20, were killed early on the morning of July 10, 1970, when they were struck by a freight train while inside their sleeping bags on a rail track west of Houlton, Maine [cite: CBC News]. The victims had originally planned a camping trip in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, but inexplicably crossed into the United States [cite: CBC News]. At the time, local authorities ruled the deaths accidental, concluding the youths had fallen asleep on the railway bed [cite: CBC News], potentially seeking a dry place to rest after rain [cite: CBC News]. However, surviving family members, including Kenny Novak’s 78-year-old brother Richard Novak, remain unconvinced by the official findings and suspect foul play [cite: CBC News]. According to historical reports, the three young men were last seen in Ingonish, N.S., on July 6 before hitchhiking toward the border [cite: CBC News]. On the night of July 9, they encountered college student Royden Hunt and his friends at a closed dairy bar in Houlton [cite: CBC News]. Hunt recalled that the trio asked how to reach Interstate 95 [cite: CBC News] and later requested to be dropped near railroad tracks so they could travel out of sight [cite: CBC News]. Hunt left them near Smyrna Mills, making him and his late friend Mike York the last known people to speak with the youths [cite: CBC News]. Around 7 a.m. the following day, a 19-car train rounded a sharp curve on the lightly used line [cite: CBC News]. The train’s fireman spotted the sleeping bags about 50 metres ahead, but the engineer was unable to stop in time [cite: CBC News]. Autopsies later revealed the victims suffered severe head and body injuries, though state lab testing found no drugs or alcohol in their systems [cite: CBC News]. Aroostook County Sheriff Darrell Crandall ultimately closed the case as an accident in 1970 [cite: CBC News], noting the damp ground may have prompted the teens to sleep on the rail bed [cite: CBC News]. Despite the passage of time and the loss of original case files [cite: CBC News], Richard Novak and a petition are urging officials to reopen the investigation to bring final closure to the decades-old mystery [cite: CBC News].
Source: cbc.ca
