A WILD WEEK IN ROCKLAND

The body found floating in the Hudson River along Emeline Park in Haverstraw on Sunday, fully clothed but with no identification, has now been identified. Joane DeLoatch, a 66-year-old resident of Green Hills assisted living facility, likely passed away due to medical or accidental circumstances according to authorities. There will be an autopsy performed to make sure. Residents of the facility, which is located less than one mile away, frequently walk to the park. DeLoatch was last spotted by Green Hills Staff some time around 11 a.m., Sunday morning. A young child playing in the park discovered the corpse some time after noon the same day. The father of the child, Jermaine Roberts, 32, of Haverstraw called the police.

At approximately 5:30 a.m., Tuesday, in Sloatsburg, a New York Trailways bus with 16 passengers from Kingston N.Y. rear-ended a tractor-trailer on the southbound side of the New York State Thruway. The trucker had slowed down for an oncoming car exiting the Sloatsburg rest area when the commuter bus heading to the Port Authority in Manhattan, rear ended the tractor–trailer.  The bus driver’s side was crushed, leaving 57-year-old Dean Vardakis trapped. He needed to be cut from the wreckage before he could be rushed to the hospital. The Washingtonville resident injured his leg and pelvis. In addition to Vardakis, seven passengers were rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.  The driver of the tractor-trailer was Mikhail Travkin, a 49-year-old Candiana from Quebec. He was unharmed. The rest of the passengers were bused to NYC on another Trailways bus. The accident was completely cleared before 8 a.m.

Clarkstown North High School Students have sparked much discussion and an investigation over a homecoming after-party into the city which ended in several teens being rushed to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. Two to three hundred kids rode private party busses to Manhattan to participate in a midnight cruise after homecoming. The students went to a supervised dance prior to these incidents, where they were not admitted unless sober. After the dance, some teens began to drink heavily, stopping one party bus from even making it to the cruise due to constant vomiting. None of the students suffered serious injury, however parents are taking a second look at what their child does on such a night. Even though Rockland County is above the national average in teenage alcohol consumption, many are rethinking how teens view alcohol consumption in our area. The Clarkstown Police Department’s Juvenile Aid Bureau is investigating where the students obtained the alcohol and if there are any adults responsible.

Raymound Mundy, 20-plus year president of the Hudson Valley Humane Society, died on Tuesday when a roof collapsed on top of him. The 68-year-old was working to renovate a shed on his property on Route 306. He was found Tuesday afternoon when his wife, Judy, discovered him pinned under the collapsed roof as she returned home from work. Mundy was pronounced dead at the scene. Mundy was a Virginia native who graduated from the University of Virginia Law School. He lived on Manhattan’s East side before moving to Rockland, where he worked for a New York City law firm. He was also involved with the local Republican Party in Ramapo.