Quinns' disappeaance has impact on Keene community
KEENE VALLEY - The disappearance of Jeremy Quinn, 38, a well-liked member of the Keene community who was last seen around 7 a.m. Tuesday, has cast a pall over his Keene and Keene Valley community.
Many local volunteers have joined the search, led by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and headquartered at the Keene Town Shed. The longer the search continues without yielding any clue as to Quinn's whereabouts, the more oppressive the atmosphere in the community becomes.
On Wednesday, the first day of school for Keene Central, teachers welcoming students were bright and cheerful, but a visitor could sense an underlying feeling of tension. Some teachers were absent, either taking part in the search or helping the Quinn family. Superintendent Cynthia Ford-Johnston scheduled substitutes and made sure that the school functioned smoothly. Quinn's daughters Megan, a kindergartner, and Caitlin, a first-grader, attended classes.
"The whole town is on edge," said Carol Reed, who deals with the community all day at Valley Grocery, a store her family owns and runs.
In general, townspeople are on the same wavelength. Not a lot needs to be said when they meet on the street or in the post office.
"Any word?"
"Not yet."
People shake their heads.
On the other hand, there is a tendency to go over and over the known facts and try to puzzle out a solution to the mystery.
He was last seen at Stewart's, where he bought lottery tickets and a soda. He called the Ausable Club, where he works, and said he would be about 20 minutes late that morning. Never arrived at work. His family called police when he didn't come home that evening. Quinn frequently talks about how happy he is to be a father and family man, so people were alarmed when he didn't show up.
His truck was found at the Gundersons' summer home on Hickey Road in Keene, where he is a caretaker. He was going to check to make sure the water was turned off. The truck was found in the driveway with the truck keys and the keys to the house on the seat - and that's it.
The Town Shed has been a beehive of organized activity, with more than 100 volunteers joining DEC rangers and local fire department personnel.
"The Lake Placid Fire Department has been here since the first night," said John Streiff, a forest ranger captain who serves Clinton, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties as well as Essex County.
New York State Police are investigating Quinn's disappearance. Also involved in the search event are the Essex County Sheriff's Department, Ausable Club employees and employees of the town Of Keene.
Town Supervisor Bill Ferebee and Sheila Ferebee were using the town's shuttle van to carry searchers to their sites and back.
"Jeremy Quinn is a hometown boy," Streiff said. "We have had excellent cooperation from his family and friends as well as total strangers and the agencies."
Quinn, a volunteer firefighter, is the youngest of eight children in a tightly knit family with a history of service to community and their church, St. Brendan's Catholic in Keene. His sister-in-law, Cricket Quinn, is one of the volunteer crew who has been coordinating and organizing food brought in for people involved in the search. When asked to name the contributors, she started rattling off businesses and individuals.
The owners of Town and Country Gourmet sent in food, along with pastries to be taken to Jeremy's mother; they want her to eat. Diane Purdy cooked hamburgers for the crew on Wednesday. Valley Grocery, the Ausable Inn, the Deershead in Elizabethtown, the Noonmark Diner ...
"I'm not going to be able to give you all the names without leaving people out," Cricket said finally, making it clear that, with such a tremendous outpouring of help, there is no way to give everyone who donates individual credit.
"That's not the point anyway," remarked Kristy Deyo, who had made a delivery and was coming in to check what more was needed.
"We are being very, very well fed," Streiff said. "That's important for people involved in a search."
Asked how Jeremy Quinn's mother, Patricia Quinn, is holding up, Cricket said, "I think her faith is what is getting her through. ... The girls know that their father is in the woods and that people are looking for him, but they don't know how serious it is."
And on Friday, the town prepared for another day.
