The car, along with Mary Jo’s lifeless body was discovered by two fisherman who immediately reported their find to local authorities. Ten hours later, Kennedy reported his role to the police. John Farrar, the diver who recovered Ms. Kopechne’s body testified at the initial inquest:
“Had I received a call within five to ten minutes of the accident occurring, and was able, as I was the following morning, to be at the victim’s side within twenty-five minutes of receiving the call, in such event there is a strong possibility that she would have been alive on removal from the submerged car.â€
Photos from the scene at Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/kennedy/day3_gallery_accident/#/2-- Why did Kennedy and Kopechne leave the barbecue?
Kennedy said they wanted to return to their respective motels and left to catch the ferry (which only operated until midnight) back to Edgartown center. But Kennedy's chauffeur, who was on hand, didn't drive them; Kopechne didn't take her purse or her room key; and they didn't go to the ferry. Kennedy headed in the opposite direction -- to Dike Bridge and the secluded beach beyond.
-- What time did they leave?
Kennedy claimed he left at 11:15 p.m., and the accident happened a few minutes later. Yet Deputy Sheriff Huck Look reported seeing Kennedy's black Oldsmobile at 12:45 a.m., heading down Dike Road toward the bridge. After the accident, the senator said he hadn't been able to rescue Kopechne because of the "strong and murky current" in which he kept getting "swept away." In truth there was no current at 11:15. The water was absolutely slack, at low tide. At 12:45, however, the current was fast-moving and strong.
-- Did Kennedy take a wrong turn without realizing it?
So he testified, and his whole story rests upon that claim. But the road to the ferry, which Kennedy had already traveled several times that day, was the only paved road on the island. Anyone driving from the house where the barbecue was held would have felt the road bank unmistakably to the left -- toward the ferry -- and would have seen the shiny left-turn sign. By contrast, it required a deliberate effort to turn right, toward the bridge. Dike Road was unpaved and very bumpy. Its entrance was obscured behind bushes and necessitated a 90-degree turn -- hard to do inadvertently.
-- Why didn't Kennedy call for help to rescue Kopechne?
Because, he said, he was in shock. He called his behavior "irrational, indefensible, inexcusable and inexplicable."
Yet he was not too traumatized to return to the barbecue and fetch two close lawyer friends, Joey Gargan and Paul Markham. He was not too traumatized to make more than 16 long-distance phone calls that night to aides and advisers (none of whom tried to get help to Kopechne, either). Despite his "shock," he managed to: return to his motel, complain to the manager about a noisy party, go to sleep, chat with a friend the next morning about the boat race, order two newspapers, meet again with Gargan and Markham and return to Chappaquiddick to call another lawyer from a pay phone -- all before going to the police.
Senator Kennedy's car is dragged by a wrecker from the channel off Chappaquiddick Island.
Other questions:
-- How much alcohol had Kennedy drunk that night?
-- If he and Kopechne did leave the barbecue at 11:15, what occupied their time until 12:45, when Deputy Look saw them drive toward Dike Bridge?
-- After getting out of the submerged car, why didn't Kennedy walk to the lighted house a few yards away and call for help? Or call from the house with the barbecue? Or from his motel?
-- Did he urge Gargan to fabricate a story about Kopechne being alone in the car when it went off the bridge?
-- Did he go to the police only when he realized he would not be able to carry off such an alibi?
-- If, as Kennedy said later, what was uppermost in his mind was "the tragedy and loss of a very devoted friend," why did he summon 19 high-level political advisers to Hyannis the next day?
-- Was the prosecutor rewarded for not bringing manslaughter or driving-to-endanger charges against Kennedy?
-- Why was the grand jury threatened with jail and intimidated by a judge when it tried to look into the tragedy?
-- When an inquest was eventually held, why did Kennedy fight -- against all precedent -- to keep its proceedings secret?
-- Why was Farrar, the diver, barred from telling the inquest and grand jury what he knew?
http://www.jeffjacoby.com/3007/chappaquiddicks-unanswered-questions
