Huckleberries Online

Elma Man Dies While Urinating On Line

Posted by DFO

March 1, 2010 3:11 p.m. • 14 comments

An Elma man was killed by accidentally urinating on a downed power line after a one-car crash near Montesano. Grays Harbor County sheriff’s Deputy Dave Pimentel said Monday that 50-year-old Roy Messenger was not seriously hurt after he collided with a power pole Friday night and called a relative to pull his car out of the ditch. When family members arrived they found Messenger electrocuted. Pimentel says Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn’t see the live wire/Associated Press. More here.

14 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

simpleton on March 01 at 3:21 p.m.
What a way to go. Makes one wonder if alcohol was involved.
HonestGeorge on March 01 at 10:18 p.m.
The death of Mr. Messenger warranted a better headline than this one.
Liz on March 01 at 10:19 p.m.
Didn’t they disprove this one on Mythbusters awhile back???
Escapee on March 02 at 2:21 a.m.
I guess that’s the ultimate case of getting P,O.’d…
ElmaEagle on March 02 at 6:08 a.m.
The Darwin Awards have another contender for 2010. Grays Harbor is full of them.
nic on March 02 at 6:35 a.m.
@ Liz - RE: Mythbusters…

That was peeing on an electrical fence. the voltages in electrical fences are enough to shock but not to kill, Power lines carry much more electricity and live wires do kill.
Soaf on March 02 at 6:45 a.m.
Shocking!!!!!

{Sorry,,,, I had to say it} ;-)
Fork on March 02 at 10:35 a.m.
I cringe when I see headlines on this blog like this one.
All it takes is this guy’s wife, son, daughter, whatever, to google him and they get to see a parade of jokes about their recently deceased loved one.
Escapee, didn’t you just make fun of a local guy’s death (something about his truck) a couple of week’s ago and then apologize after his friend/family member called you on it?
It seemed like a heartfelt apology. Guess not, huh?
moscow_minidoka on March 02 at 10:39 a.m.
I don’t think this is funny. This could have been any of us. I certainly would need to relieve myself if I crashed into a power pole (if I didn’t wet myself at the moment of impact). And I am well-known as an Outdoor Urinator (thanks to my farm upbringing - you don’t run to the house to pee when you’re in the middle of feeding 100 head of cattle).

There but for the Grace of God…
Fork on March 02 at 10:52 a.m.
http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/hbo/2010/feb/12/h41-crash-kills-athol-man/
DFO on March 02 at 10:54 a.m.
Good point, Fork & Moscow Minidoka; I’ve changed the headline somewhat. If you don’t like the new one, feel free to suggest one that fits into a one-line headline.
Fork on March 02 at 11:09 a.m.
DFO, I appreciate you changing it. That should help some.

The real problem seems to be the comments following an article about someone recently dying. The person(s) is usually a local person (at least from the Northwest) or they wouldn’t be on the blog.

It’s tough. It’s a news blog and you should report stuff like this, but some comments in the past have been super insensitive.

Maybe a standard tagline reminding people to keep their comments in bound for articles like these days?
Cindy_H on March 02 at 12:01 p.m.
MM: Weren’t you recently bemoaning he handle you registered with? Perhaps you could start posting as Outdoor Urinator?
Not sure the avatar would fit the SR standards, though.

*This comment was directed soley at MM and is not intended in any way to make fun of a tragic death*
hobby10k on March 02 at 8:16 p.m.
Roy was a good friend of mine and my wife’s step dad. I am the one who he called and the one who found him next to the car within min. of the phone call. an image that I will never forget. This is a great loss to our family and a very traumatic experience for everyone who was on the scene. It Just saddens me even more to hear it over the air, and hear and read the jokes cracked about the event and that people find it humorous that someone has lost their life. We hear and read these all while we are all still mourning our family member. On top of that the autopsy report has been released. he touched the line with his hand it was not by urinating on the line. He had just been envolved in a wreck and it was dark out and accidently came in contact with the line.Shows how false and twisted stories are created in the media, before the truth is even told. Roy was a wonderful loving person, he will be missed by many, and shame to you all who have no respect whatsoever for such a tragic event

« Back to Huckleberries Online

You must be logged in to post comments.
Please create a profile or log in here.

About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.