"Life is precious, you think you've seen it all until something like this happens."

Joseph Becerra is a 30-plus-year veteran investigator for the New York State police, and he's seen some pretty awful things during his career, but perhaps none more horrifying than one of the deadliest auto accidents in Westchester County history.
It's a case that haunts him to this day, as well as many others who worked the scene, the day 36-year-old Diane Schuler drove 1.7 miles the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway.

Video: Remembering the Tragedy on the Taconic - 10 Years Later

Video: Looking Back on the Tragedy:

It was Sunday afternoon, July 26, 2009. Becerra was off duty, but then came the call. "I was told that there were multiple fatalities, but of the magnitude that I saw, I just wasn't expecting that."

News 12 Westchester archive video: Drivers stop to assist with accident - 
Lidia Ujkaj, July 26 2009

He says he remembers heading south on the Taconic and had to drive on the shoulder because traffic was so backed up.

Finally he arrived on the scene. "I remember seeing a charred minivan right in the center of the grass median, and then up above in the northbound lanes, there was another car that was severely damaged. One of the things that sticks out the most was there were blankets around the scene, and I thought my troopers were doing a great job preserving evidence, and so forth, but unfortunately that's not what was under the blankets."

Long Island archive aideo: Shari Einhorn reports on the tragic accident -

Under the blankets were the bodies of the eight people killed in the crash. Diane Schuler's own 2-year-old daughter Erin, her nieces Emma, Alyson, and Katie Hance - ages 5 through 8. Also killed were the three passengers in the car she'd struck; 81-year-old Michael Bastardi, his 49-year-old son Guy, and their friend, 74-year-old Dan Longo.

Diane Schuler was also killed in the crash. Her 5-year-old son Brian was the only survivor.

Becerra says it was a difficult scene to work. "It's very tough, because we're all human beings, the first responders, the firemen, the state troopers at the scene, and the magnitude of the fatalities involved, the young children, it was just overwhelming." He says it took some time for reality to sink in. "You call it your game face, you put it on, it's not until afterwards that the emotions kind of set in, and the realization of what you just saw really settles in."

News 12 Westchester archive video: First responders spring into action - 
Mia Toschi, July 28 2009

There was even more sorrow to come as the long-term investigation continued. Investigators found a bottle of Absolute Vodka in the minivan Schuler was driving. Toxicology reports showed she had the equivalent of 10 drinks in her system, with 6 grams of alcohol in her stomach that had yet to be metabolized. Reports also showed high levels of marijuana that could have been smoked anywhere from an hour to 15 minutes before crash.

Long Island archive video: Witnesses accounts -
Eileen Lehpamer, August 3 2009

"I interviewed a number of motorists who came face to face with Diane Schuler who were traveling northbound on the Taconic as she was coming southbound at them. And the thing that stuck out the most was these people that I interviewed stated that she had both hands on the wheel and almost like she was determined, like she was driving at them, she wasn't swerving like a normal intoxicated driver would be. And that kind of stood out a little bit that so many people saw the same thing."

Westchester archive video: Police search for answers - 2009

Becerra says hours after they'd finally cleared the accident scene, he remembers telling several young troopers new to the department not to be disheartened by what they'd witnessed that day. It was his hope that this was something they would never see again.

Long Island archive video: Retracing the steps -
Christine Insinga, August 6 2009

Ten years later, it's a case no one can forget. "I've been on the job well over 30 years, and it definitely sticks out as one of the most sad cases I've ever worked just because of the amount of people who perished, the children, the Bastardis, it's just a sad, sad case all around. And of course you think about it all the time, you can't help but think about it. And every time I go up and down the Taconic and I pass that spot, it always comes back. It just doesn't go away."

Archive Video: Hope after tragedy: The Hance Foundation 5K -
Antoinette Biordi, May 18, 2019

Despite the events of that day, and the somber 10-year anniversary, some good has emerged from the tragedy. 

The Hance family has gone on to start a thriving charitibale fondation, the Hance Family Foundation. They say in their mission statement that the goal of the foundation is "to honor the lives of our three beautiful girls by sharing our innovative self-esteem educational programming. We have chosen to focus on how our daughters lived, rather than how they died."

























The foundation held its annual 5K this past May.  When interviewed at the event, Jacki Hanse reinforced a message of positivity when it comes to the memory of her children.

“I have a lot of reasons to smile even through tragedy in my life. I have a lot of blessings and I feel them all the time.”

The Bastardi Family released a statement on the anniversary of the crash:

Margaret Bastardi Nicotina

The Hance family did not wish to be interviewed. News 12 could not reach the Schuler family.

News 12's Lisa LaRocca discusses her experience covering the story

Extended interview with the Bastardi family on the Taconic anniversary