On Tuesday, Brian Lemay of Sabattus died almost instantly after his motorcycle and a pickup truck crashed in Lewiston. Lemay’s name was released within hours and the circumstances of that accident remain under investigation.

Also Tuesday, Edward Kilgore of Paris died almost instantly after his truck was hit by a freight train near his home. Kilgore’s name was released within hours; the circumstances of that accident remain under investigation.

On Saturday, two people died and two people survived after a violent boat crash on Long Lake in Harrison. A large, high-powered boat apparently ran over a much smaller boat, then had sufficient momentum to travel 200 feet onto the shoreline.

In an extraordinary move, no names of anyone involved have been released; the circumstances of that accident remain under investigation.

The Cumberland County District Attorney’s handling the release of information in the Harrison boating crash is curious, questionable and inconsistent with standard operating procedures of investigators in Maine. It’s so curious that members of law enforcement have questioned the motivation in what can only be described as a gag on names.

According to Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Norbert, the names are being withheld until the investigation is complete to allow law enforcement the time to make “a thorough and complete investigation.” We understand and utterly support the need for a complete and thorough investigation, and are sure the families of the victims expect the same. How, though, does releasing four names – basic information that will not change no matter how the investigation turns – impede, cloud or otherwise interfere with this investigation?

It doesn’t. If it did, then Cumberland County most certainly would not have released the names of the six victims in a fatal crash in Poland in the wee hours of Christmas Eve just hours after they died. That investigation lasted months, and eventually resulted in criminal charges, but the identities of the victims who died were facts known at the time of the accident and released without hesitation.

The Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office has withheld names before.

Victoria Miele of Falmouth, who made an illegal U-turn and caused a massive pileup on Interstate 295 in December, was shielded for weeks by the Cumberland County DA’s Office. The public cried foul then, charging Miele’s name was withheld because she is an influential member of the community, which eventually forced Miele to come forward herself before she was charged with driving to endanger.

Thanks to the fertilizer called public speculation, the grassy knoll theories are growing fast.

AMGers, as bloggers call themselves on asmainegoes.com, are speculating that the boat was being driven by **** ****** and his girlfriend, “since names are not being released. At least until the lawyers can put their spin on it.”

And, in Harrison, the talk on the street is that the high-powered boat was being driven by a young woman and a female friend who are somehow connected to a prominent local family.

Blogs on various media sites suggest the speed boat driver is from Massachusetts. That he’s the son of a local marina owner. That no matter who the driver is, “When the details are released, this guy is going to look worse, not better.”

We agree.

The dead officially have no names.

The driver and passenger of the cigarette boat appear to have earned some kind of special protection that other, perhaps more ordinary people, involved in fatal accidents are never offered or entitled to.

As one blogger asserts, “Any other boating accident and the names would already have been released.”

Well said. And that’s the public, who has a right to know, speaking.