North Branford Police Department (NBPD) continues to investigate the cause of a two-vehicle accident on Tues. Oct. 5 resulting in the death of one of the vehicle operators, an East Haven resident who later succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.

At 6:22 p.m. on Oct. 5, NBPD, North Branford Fire Department and Branford Fire Department responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident with injuries on Branford Road (Route 139) near Valley Road. As NBPD shared in a statement issued Oct. 6 at its Facebook page, "... emergency responders performed life-saving measures by extricating one of the operators from a motor vehicle.  The injured operators were transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital with serious and life threatening injuries.  Unfortunately, we are deeply saddened to report that even with the heroic work of our first responders, one of the operators succumbed to their injuries at Yale-New Haven Hospital...our heart goes out to all those involved, especially the friends and family of the deceased."

North Branford Deputy Chief of Police James Lovelace responded to an email from Zip06/The Sound in which he confirmed the person extricated from the vehicle was the deceased, Rebecca Buecher, 56, of East Haven.

Additionally, in response to a request from Zip06/The Sound on whether a cause of the accident had been determined, as of Oct. 8, Lovelace said he could share "...it appears to be a two car, head-on collision" but that the cause of the accident is still being investigated. He also noted that fatal motor vehicle accident investigations typically take months to complete. 

Lovelace said police continue to ask that anyone who witnessed the accident or has information contact investigators at (203) 484-2703 and speak with Sgt. Lemmons.