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Hinsdale Police Searching For Missing Woman

Staff Reports

The woman was last seen on Smith Road Wednesday morning.
HINSDALE, Mass. — Police are asking for help locating a woman who went missing Wednesday morning.
 
Jacqueline Coutinho was last seen on Smith Road at about 10:15 on Wednesday morning. Police and emergency responders have been searching for her for three days now but have been unable to find any clues to her whereabouts.
 
Anyone with information about where Coutinho might be to are asked to contact police at 413-655-0201.
 
Police Chief Susan Rathbun said there nothing to suggest anything nefarious happened nor is there any indication of that the woman was suffering from any mental health issues causing her to wander off.
 
But still, the search conducted by Police, the Fire Department, Berkshire Mountain Search and Rescue, and the Massachusetts State Police have so far been unsuccessful in locating her.
 
"Wednesday until dark we searched and then we searched all [Thursday]," Rathbun said. 
 
The search has entailed K9 units, foot patrols, and a helicopter. Rathbun said there are no missing vehicles related to the case. The woman had been visiting her sister in Hinsdale.
 
"She was here with her sister. She had been here about a month," Rathbun said. 
 
Coutinho was last seen wearing a purple/red sweater, blue jeans, and white sneakers. She is described as white with blonde and gray hair, and standing approximately 5-feet-6 and weighing about 130 pounds.


     

Hinsdale Man Charged With Murdering Estranged Girlfriend

Update on April 15: The preliminary results of an autopsy on 24-year-old Kassedi Clark indicate she died from
multiple gunshot wounds.
 
Dr. Robert Welton, an associate medical examiner for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, conducted the autopsy on Clark on Sunday in Holyoke and has ruled the death a homicide.
 
Clark's estranged boyfriend, Michael S. Boulais, 32, is expected to be arraigned on a charge of murder on Tuesday in Central Berkshire District Court. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Hinsdale man has been charged with murder in connection with the death of his estranged girlfriend.

 
Michael S. Boulais, 32, was arrested and charged Friday morning with one count of murder in the death of 24-year-old Kassedi Clark.
 
Hinsdale Police received a 911 call at approximately 8:30 on Friday morning reporting a possible shooting at 53 Ashmere Drive, Hinsdale. When officers arrived on the scene, they found Clark's body inside a vehicle on the property. 
 
An autopsy, to determine Clark's cause of death, will be conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Holyoke on Sunday.
 
Boulais is expected to be arraigned on the murder charge Tuesday morning in Central Berkshire District Court. He is being held at the Berkshire County House of Correction without the right to bail pending his arraignment.
 
Investigators believe the shooting was an isolated incident and do not believe others in the area are in any immediate danger.
 
Case workers from the Department of Children and Families were contacted to provide assistance to the children who resided at the residence.
 
Clark attended Taconic High School and was studying to be a nurse, with an interest in becoming a midwife, according to her Facebook profile.
 
The investigation is being conducted by state troopers assigned to the district attorney's office, members of the Hinsdale and Dalton police departments, the Berkshire County sheriff's department, state troopers assigned to the Cheshire barracks, State Police Crime Scene Services and Ballistics Sections and forensic scientists assigned to the State Police Crime Laboratory.
     

Authorities Investigating Fatal Fire In Hinsdale

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
HINSDALE, Mass. — A person died in an afternoon structure fire on Shore Drive on Thursday morning, shortly before 11.
 
Fire Chief Larry Turner said the district attorney's office is investigating the circumstances around the death. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze but one was taken to the hospital for treatment.
 
"We responded to 16 Shore Drive in Hinsdale and there was a fatality involved," Turner said on Friday. "We were able to put the fire out fairly quickly."
 
Turner said when he arrived, he saw smoke coming from the home's eaves, which automatically triggered a second alarm. Firefighters from Peru, Becket and Middlefield responded with tank trucks because the home was outside of the hydrant district. Dalton send an engine company to the scene. And Becket sent an engine to standby in Hinsdale's station.
 
"We did send one firefighter to the hospital with very high blood pressure. He was checked out and released," Turner said. 
 
Shore Drive is residential area off George Schnopp Road that runs along Lake Ashmere.
 
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, he said. The district attorney's office is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death. Turner was unable to comment any further on the fatality.
 
The district attorney's office could not be reached on Friday.
     

Superior Court Briefs: Feb. 22-25

Staff Reports

Cases heard before Judge John Agostini on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

Travis G. Bateman, 35, of Pittsfield pleaded guilty to single counts of distribution of cocaine and manufacturing cocaine.

Agostini ordered that he serve concurrent 3 1/2- to five-year state prison sentences at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction on both charges.      
 
The charges stem from the sale of cocaine in Pittsfield on April 20, 2009, and the execution of a search warrant at a home in Pittsfield on July 17, 2009.
 
The investigation was conducted by members of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force. 

Aaron Provencher, 36, of New Windsor Road, Hinsdale, had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf on three counts of dissemination of visual material of a child in a state of nudity or sexual conduct and 12 counts of knowingly possessing visual material of a child depicted in sexual conduct.

He was released on personal recognizance. The incidents are alleged to have occurred in Hinsdale between November 10, 2009, and December 1, 2009.

The investigation was conducted by state police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office.

Cases heard before Judge John Agostini on Wednesday, Feb. 23

Adam Smith, 31, of Second Street, Pittsfield, had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf for single counts of possession of heroin with intent to distribute (second offense), manufacturing cocaine (second offense), possession of methadone with intent to distribute (second offense), possession of marijuana with intent to distribute (second offense), four counts of drug violations in a school zone and possession of ammunition without a firearm indentification card.

He was ordered held in the House of Correction on $100,000 bail. The charges stem from the execution of a search warrant at his home on December 31, 2010.

Gregory J. Mathews Jr., 23, of Second Street, Pittsfield, had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf on single counts of possession of heroin, of methadone and of marijuana, each with intent to distribute; one count of manufacturing cocaine; four counts of drug violation within a school zone and single count of possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card.

He was ordered held at the House of Correction with $2,500 bail.

The charges stem from the execution of a search warrant at his home on December 31, 2010, and the investigation was conducted by the Pittsfield Police Department.  

Christopher C. Mead, 28, and Elizabeth J. Mead, aka Elizabeth J. Rogers, 32, both of East Street, Pittsfield, both pleaded guilty to one count of possession of heroin.

Each was ordered to pay a $500 fine. The charge stems from a motor vehicle stop in Pittsfield on July 26, 2010.

•  Jeffrey A. Williamson, 47, had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf on single counts of distribution of cocaine and possession of cocaine, both second offenses.

He was ordered held at the House of Correction on $5,000 cash or $50,000 surety bail.

It is alleged that Williamson sold cocaine on December 6, 2010, and was in possession of cocaine with intent to sell the drug when he was arrested on December 7, 2010. The incidents are alleged to have occurred in Pittsfield.

 

All information provided by the district attorney's office.

Tags: drugs, cocaine, sex crime, children, pornography, heroin, methadone, cocaine      

Hinsdale Snuffs Out Mobile Home Blaze

Staff Reports

A heater located underneath a mobile home is suspected as the cause of a fire on Monday night.

The Hinsdale Volunteer Fire Department responded in last night's bitter cold temperatures to a reported house fire at 8:19 p.m. Arriving firefighters were confronted with a fire in the crawl space underneath a mobile home at 9 Alice Drive occupied by the Reed family.

Significant fire damage was contained to the area under the home and there was light smoke damage to the interior of the building. The fire was under control within 15 minutes.

Fire Chief Larry Turner said the probable cause was the use of a propane heater underneath the dwelling.

A female resident of the home who re-entered the building to retrieve family pets before firefighters arrived was evaluated and treated at the scene for the affects of smoke by Hinsdale Ambulance staff.

Firefighters from the Peru and Becket volunteer fire departments assisted Hinsdale at the scene while Dalton firefighters provided standby coverage at the Hinsdale Fire Station.

Information provided by the Hinsdale Volunteer Fire Department.

Tags: fire, house      
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