(Orig. pub. 1/24/20)

Folklore tells of beautiful Princess Lillinonah, daughter of Chief Waramaug of the Weantinock tribe, falling in love with a white man.  It was a tragic romance that ended with the lovers perishing in what is now Lake Lillinonah, bordering Lovers Leap State Park to the north in New Milford, Connecticut.

Over three hundred years later a young photographer in New Milford was told of a school shooting not far from his town.  On the morning of December 14, 2012, Eric Langlois rushed the thirteen miles to Sandy Hook, not knowing what to find there.  His professional camera equipment went along for the ride.  Six months later his life ended tragically in Lake Lillinonah, the lake of folklore.  Eric posted several photos on Instagram from Sandy Hook that Friday.  The activities he encountered took place at St. Rose of Lima School on Church Hill Road, not at Sandy Hook Elementary School at 12 Dickinson Drive.

One photo at the front of St. Rose of Lima School depicted civilian men with hands above their heads, while uniformed men held big guns.  Another photo shows parents waiting outside to pick up their children who were not released until the drill was over. 

This was indeed a drill.

There is no doubt these photos were taken at St. Rose of Lima School.  The two front doors were clearly visible with large Christmas wreaths.  The same two front doors and wreaths were shown in mainstream media on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, when St. Rose of Lima Church had a bomb scare during a sermon.  The congregation was evacuated.  These photographs were proof that a drill had taken place at St. Rose of Lima School on Friday, December 14, 2012.

The young photographer, who took the photos at St. Rose in Newtown, had a tragic accident six months later in June 2013.  Being an experienced biker, he took his mountain bike to Lovers Leap State Park in New Milford near his home.  There he hit his head and somehow lost the bike.  He could not remember exactly what had happened to him.  A friend described his eyes as “funny looking” after the accident.

The following day his pregnant wife drives Eric to Lovers Leap State Park to retrieve the bike.  She leaves for home after dropping him off.  Why did she drive away?  She was pregnant, but at least wait until the bike is found.  Besides, her husband has a head injury from the day before.  No, she leaves, according to various reports.  That was the last time Eric was seen alive.  Accidents happen all too often to mountain climbers and mountain bikers alike, but there is one too many oddity here to be overlooked.

During the six-month period between when the photos were taken at St. Rose of Lima School in Newtown and Eric drowned in Lake Lillinonah, what happened?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that a drill took place at St. Rose of Lima School on December 14, 2012, and Eric had photos to prove it.

There are valid reasons to suspect the alleged shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was prerecorded to be aired at a different date–such as Dec. 14, 2012.  If the school had been decommissioned, so much the better.  The drill at St. Rose of Lima School would divert and distract any curious onlookers rushing to town when news of a school shooting broke.  Sandy Hook School and St. Rose of Lima School are in close proximity.   The now famous Newtown Bee is just up the road from St. Rose.  A new neighbor to the Bee and St. Rose is Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit charity cashing in on the Sandy Hook event.  SHP is doing extremely well financially according to news reports and the charity’s own website.  

Back to the story about Eric Langlois.  The young photographer went missing for a week while an intense search of the lake and surrounding area took place.  Lake Lillinonah, the body of water between Lovers Leap State Park in New Milford to the north and Newtown to the south, is about twelve miles long.  Eric was found drowned on June 18, 2013, on the Bridgewater side of the lake where he vanished while looking for his bike.

Reports from different news sources:

 NEW MILFORD–Professional photographer Eric Langlois of New Milford, who died as the result of an accidental drowning in Lake Lillinonah, was remembered as an “affectionate, endearing husband, patient, loving father, devoted son and brother and a wonderful uncle to his nieces and nephews” in an obituary published by The News-Times of Danbury.

A link to the obituary is the latest posting on the Help Find Eric Langlois group page, which was created shortly after Mr. Langlois disappeared June 11 after returning to Lovers Leap State Park to try to retrieve a mountain bike that had ended up in the lake in a mishap a day earlier.

Mr. Langlois’s wife, Amber, reported him missing June 11, which launched a search coordinated by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) that involved specially-trained units from area police departments.  Mr. Langlois’s friends and family, including photographers from around the state, aided the official search with a vigorous volunteer effort based at Walnut Hill Community Church in New Milford.

After searching from air, land and water for days, the DEEP announced last Sunday that the official search was being suspended.  On Monday night, a vigil honoring Mr. Langlois was held at Lovers Leap, and Tuesday morning DEEP EnCon police found Mr. Langlois’s body floating in the lake near Lake Lillinonah Road North in Bridgewater.  The recovery site was established at Bridgewater Town Park on Lake Lillinonah Road South.

At the scene Tuesday, Capt. Raul Camejo of the Connecticut Environmental Conservation (EnCon) Police told reporters that it would be 24 to 48 hours before an official announcement was made about whether the body recovered was that of Mr. Langlois.  “At this point we have made a recovery from Lake Lillinonah,” said Capt. Camejo.  “It’s been a long week.  We do not like to recover bodies.  It wears on you.  This is the hard part of the job.”

Captain Camejo said the discovery was called in from the shore by EnCon police at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, a week after Mr. Langlois disappeared in the lake–an expanded part of the Housatonic River that’s part of a hydropower operation and stretches from New Milford to Newtown.  Mr. Langlois was attempting to retrieve a mountain bike that had fallen into the water while he was riding at Lovers Leap June 10.

On Thursday, there was a bit of confusion as media outlets, including WTNH News and News-Times of Danbury, reported that the body was that of Mr. Langlois.  Reached on his cell phone after the reports were posted Thursday afternoon, DEEP Communications Director Dennis Schain said the ID confirmation did not come through DEEP.  “We don’t know that to be true or untrue,” he said yesterday.  “We’re trying to check.”

A source in the medical examiner’s office then told the Litchfield County Times that the office could only provide the manner of death–accidental drowning–and was not confirming the identity of the body.  However, a post at approximately 3:30 p.m. on the Help Find Eric Langlois group page on Facebook by Nichole Taylor-Photography said, “The body that was found in Lake Lillinonah was in fact that of our friend Eric Langlois.  Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time.  Thank you.”

Addendum, 2/3/20:So, what is a lockdown? You lock the doors and “shelter in place” according to newspeak, and stay there until they tell you to come out. What a way to program children!! Obey and be very afraid. Lockdown does not mean that a bunch of armed police were stationed at Newtown schools. But for some reason, they were at St. Rose, even though St. Rose is not a Newtown public school. The situation at St. Rose of Lima was very noticeable. Why were uniformed men running around there and not at other schools in lockdown? Why are men holding their arms up in one photo, and the same men comfortably standing around chatting in another photo? Why, if not playing a role? There is no role playing in a real life and death situation. We know that St. Rose of Lima was heavily involved, playing a major part.  Monsignor Robert Weiss was later sent on an all expense vacation to Hawaii for several weeks. Pay for play?  Why did CNN claim that the uniformed men were running around outside SHES, when in fact the location was at St. Rose of Lima School? Is it just a coincidence that the photographer who took the photos at St. Rose of Lima School is dead? He and journalist Michael Bellmore were the youngest to die in the aftermath. Many others died too, one person vanished, some were fired from their positions, some were demoted while others retired in a hurry. And then the lawsuits came. Never before had the state of Connecticut seen such a flurry of activities in such a short time. St. Rose of Lima Church has not suffered any setbacks from this event. A recent multimillion dollar project saw several dignitaries participating in the groundbreaking ceremony.