When Dominiqua Bethea first met Doug “Dougie” Usseglio, he was dancing on top of a table at Franklin Pierce University singing and dancing to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”
“He made fun of me because I didn’t know all the words,” said Bethea, of meeting her “best friend” on her freshman move in day. “We hit it off immediately. He became the person I went to for everything.”
Two years later, Bethea still makes an effort to visit her friend every day she can, driving by and many times stopping by the site where Usseglio was found dead on March 6, 2016.
“I drive by every day and I try to stop and sit there every week, but it’s still hard,” said Bethea, who is currently working with the town to place a permanent memorial in the vicinity of where Usseglio was found dead, a stream near Bradford Street and Goodall Road, not far from the intersection of Route 119 and 202.
Usseglio, who played hockey for Franklin Pierce University, was found dead the day before his 23rd birthday.
An autopsy completed by the Office of the Medical Examiner on March 7 revealed the specific cause of death to be acute Alprazolam intoxication. Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety drug, is more commonly known as Xanax.
Bethea first approached the town a few weeks ago, after a cross memorializing Usseglio had gone missing. Bethea said she has spoken with the town administrator, police department, and highway department, but the cross still has not been found.
“It wasn’t the original cross that was placed there… it had been there since about June of last year,” said Bethea, who said the town had asked friends and family to remove all non-biodegradable materials from the memorial site.
Shortly after news broke of Usseglio’s death, friends and family had flocked to the site, placing flowers, photos, cards, hockey jerseys, and more, all in memory of Usseglio.
Police Chief Todd Muilenberg said Monday morning that someone did call to ask where the sign was, but no police report to his knowledge has been filed with the police department, meaning that there is currently no investigation being conducted into the missing cross.
Muilenberg said the department had asked friends and family to clean up the area of beer bottles and other items that could serve as a danger to children using the nearby park, but did not call for the removal of the cross, nor did they personally it.
“We never said the cross needed to be removed,” said Muilenberg, who said that to his knowledge, a memorial cross has never been reported as missing or stolen during his tenure in town.
Bethea approached the town’s selectmen on Aug. 9, and later on Aug. 23, asking for permission to put a permanent memorial near where Usseglio was found dead.
“That cross was all that was left,” said Bethea, in her proposal to the selectmen last Wednesday. “Rindge was a big part of his life. We just want something to keep him here.”
Bethea had originally asked if the town would be willing to allow her to place a large river stone with a plaque on it near the stream, but was later granted permission to reimburse the town for a bench that was recently placed near the stream. Selectmen also approved to have Bethea work with the town to have a memorial plaque placed on the bench.
“Most of the memorials in town are useful items… I think [the bench] would provide a useful function,” said Selectman Robert Hamilton, during the meeting. “I have no problem with it, as long as the work goes through DPW.”
Bethea said originally was going to ask for a bench, but changed to a river stone after noting the bench already near where Usseglio died. Bethea said the river rock would have served two purposes – putting a memorial near Usseglio’s death site and offering a blockade to prevent others from falling into the brook in the future – but is happy the town is allowing her to turn the existing bench into a memorial.
As of an interview Friday afternoon, Bethea said she was still working to price out the cost of the plaque and that she is working out ways to fundraise for the memorial, adding that many people have shown an interest in contributing to such a cause.
“I am definitely walking away satisfied,” said Bethea. “I didn’t think things would go the way they did. I thought it was going to be fought harder.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.