By Lisa Williams Ackley

Staff Writer

NAPLES — A 22-year-old man from Falmouth died and a 51-year-old man from Massachusetts was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident on Thompson's Point Road here last week, the wreckage of which was discovered by a woman out walking the family dog, in the early morning.

According to police, the SUV the men were in left the roadway and struck a tree, crushing the 2003 Chevrolet Blazer, and the local woman out walking her dog came across the accident scene shortly before 4:30 a.m. on July 6.

Police said the passenger, William B. Schneider, died at the scene of the crash, while the 51-year-old owner of the SUV, Richard D. Griffin of Peabody, Mass., was transported to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston with life-threatening injuries. Griffin was listed in "fair condition" at CMMC on Tuesday (July 10), a hospital spokesperson said.

"It appears the vehicle had been there for awhile before it was discovered," said Captain Don Goulet of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office.

Speed and alcohol both appear to be factors in the fatal crash, according to Goulet.

The accident remains under investigation by the Sheriff's Office Patrol Division and the Detective Division, as well as a member of the Windham Police Department Reconstruction Team.