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New Book Looks At Tragic 2009 Taconic State Parkway Crash

YONKERS, NY (WCBS 880) -- A son remembers his father and brother in a book two years after their deaths in a horrifying Taconic State Parkway crash.

Almost two years after his father and brother were killed in the horrific drunk driving crash, Michael Bastardi Jr. says he still struggles.

"Every day it crosses my mind," said Bastardi.

The wreck was sparked by Diane Schuler, a drunken woman carrying five children in a minivan, who drove into oncoming traffic on the Taconic.

WCBS 880's Catherine Cioffi reports: Michael Bastardi Jr. Says Book Is Helping Him Heal

 

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She hit an SUV carrying  Bastardi's father, brother and another man head-on. The wreck also killed Schuler, her daughter and three nieces in the minivan.

His book, "Taconic Tragedy: A Son's Search for the Truth," explores what happened that July day and what followed.

"We didn't have the normal grieving time that people would get and to tolerate the things that were coming at us, besides the crash, it was horrible," he said.

Bastardi still believes there was a coverup and while he searches for the truth, he says he's also searching to heal.

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