A fatal accident on Westport Island Saturday, December 8 took the life of a Westport Island man whose SUV flipped over on the West Shore Road.

Everett "Butch" Jaskiewicz, 59, was driving south on the road with his girlfriend, Kristi Kukowski, at the time of the accident. According to the Lincoln County Sheriffs' Office, Kukowski dialed 911 but the call was disconnected before the dispatcher could find out what was going on.

Lincoln County Sheriff's Department Lieut. Rand Maker said she was either thrown from the SUV, or she was able to get out of the vehicle after the accident. She apparently wandered into the woods, eventually coming back out on the road again.

During this time, the dispatcher was trying to trace the location of the cell phone. Since 2004 Lincoln County has had the capability to pin-point the location of a cell phone call within an average of 300 feet, according to Kathy Blagdon, Deputy Director of Lincoln County Communications.

After they learned the location of the cell phone call, the sheriffs drove to the road and found Kukowski standing in the roadway. Maker said "We didn't know at first what had happened to her."

"If we had not the capability of tracking that cell phone call, I don't know what would have happen to the young woman. She was exposed to the weather, on a very dark road, disoriented, and alone with no houses nearby," Rand said.

Rand said the deputies searched the area and found a 1992 Toyota Land Cruiser between two and four tenths of a mile from where Kulowski was found walking. The SUV was on its roof with Jaskiewicz still inside.

The preliminary investigation showed the driver lost control on a curve, went across the road into a ditch, hit a ledge, and flipped over.

According to the Sheriff's Department, it appears that Jaskiewicz, nor Kukowski were neither wearing their seatbelts at the time of the accident. The exact cause of Jaskiewicz' death will be determined by the State Medical Examiner's office. Kukowski was taken to Miles Memorial Hospital with a non-life threatening injuries and later released.

Lincoln County Deputies were assisted at the scene by the Westport Island Fire Department, Westport Island's First Responders, and the Wiscasset Ambulance Service, and the Bath Police Department.

Lincoln County Deputies will continue their investigation into the cause of the accident. The investigation will include additional interviews and the blood test results taken of both occupants to determine if drugs or alcohol were factors in the accident.

For the past six months Jaskiewicz has been working as the lead carpenter for Roger Bintliff in Edgecomb, owner of the Sheepscot Harbour Village & Resort and Ocean Grille.

"Butch was a hard working, well liked individual," Bintliff said. "We here are all saddened by the loss, and we will miss him very much."

According to Bintliff, Kukowski, had come up from South Carolina to spend the holidays with Jaskiewicz.