A 73-year-old New Hampshire man died Tuesday after witnesses said he got out of his truck following a crash on Route 5 and walked off a nearby cliff.
Vermont State Police said Stephen Lalancette, 73, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, suffered fatal injuries in the fall and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police responded at about 4:01 PM Sept. 15 to U.S. Route 5 South near Carter Road after receiving a report of a motor vehicle crash. Investigators said Lalancette’s truck had swiped a guardrail and continued north for a short distance before pulling off the road.
Witnesses told police Lalancette, the truck’s sole occupant, got out and was acting erratically before he appeared to jump from a nearby cliff.
A follow-up investigation indicated Lalancette may have been suffering from a medical emergency at the time, police said. His death is not considered suspicious.
Lalancette’s body will be taken to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.