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AUGUST 25, 2017
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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OCEAN CITY JEEP WEEK Eighth annual four-day event to include beach crawls, obstacle course and vendors – Page 49
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Case closed in accidental beach death OCPD determine woman sat in premade hole, but unable to unearth cause of collapse
KARA HALLISSEY/OCEAN CITY TODAY
FOLLOWING THE SUN The warnings were loud, clear and pervasive — don’t look directly at the sun during Monday’s solar eclipse, or risk serious injury to your eyes. Apparently, the thousands of people who did spend a fair portion of the afternoon looking up at the partial eclipse did so through protective glasses. Neither the Ocean City Police Department, Atlantic General Hospital or Worcester County’s Emergency Services Department reported a single case of eye injury. The assumption is that either people took the necessary precautions or, if they didn’t and suffered the consequences, they’re keeping quiet about it. Top photo: A pair among dozens of Seacrets’ patrons make sure to wear their complimentary protective glasses before gazing upward at the solar eclipse on Monday afternoon. Bottom photo: Mike Albert, of Pittsville, checks out the solar eclipse at Seacrets on 49th Street earlier this week.
By Katie Tabeling Staff Writer (Aug. 25, 2017) Ocean City Police closed its investigation into Ashley O’Connor’s death, and determined that she died when the beach hole she was sitting in collapsed and drowned her in sand. “During the course of the investigation, we had numerous witnesses and sources of information. We looked through hours of videography and physical evidence, and we found nothing that led to a criminal nature of the death,” said Chief Ross Buzzuro during a Thursday morn‘During the ing press briefcourse of the ing. O’Connor, 30, investigation, we of Plano, Texas, had numerous died of suffocawitnesses and tion sometime sources of around 2 a.m. on July 31, Buzzuro information.’ said. Her body Chief Ross was found later Buzzuro that morning near Second Street after a man walking on the beach spotted a forearm and a bit of hair sticking out from the sand. The hole, which police believe was previously made that day, was 3.5 feet deep and six feet wide. O’Connor was found in a seated position roughly 1.5 feet below the surface. Detectives were unable to conclusively determine what caused the hole to collapse. “There are several possibilities that could have happened, and we worked with the Engineering Department to look into the nuances with sand in such incidents,” Buzzuro said. “On entering the hole, it could have collapsed. When she was in it, it See THEOBALD Page 5