Tragedy Strikes The Langlois Family

Lake Lillinonah lies in Lovers Leap State Park near New Milford in the state of Connecticut. It is a tranquil place in a rugged sort of way, somewhere that you expect to hear bird calls, and to see hikers on trails and canoes gliding across the water. What it isn’t is somewhere where you expect a tragedy to occur, but that is exactly what happened this past June.

Eric Langlois was a young photographer who was building a reputation as one of the best wedding specialists in Connecticut, and his reputation was starting to spread to neighboring states. At the age of 33, he should have had all of his life in front of him, but sadly that was not to be. Eric was a family man, married to his wife and business partner Amber, with two lovely children and a third one on its way.

On June 10th, Eric decided to go mountain biking in the park near the shores of the lake. However, some time after he set out, he apparently had a fairly severe accident, which left him dazed and with a cracked helmet. We say apparently because Eric arrived home later that day without his bike and with no memory of the incident.

The next day, June 11th, Amber drove Eric back to the park and dropped him close to the spot where he thought he had been cycling, so that he could search for the bike and recover it if at all possible. As Amber drove away, she expected that Eric would return home later in the day with the bike.

It was only a few hours later that a woman who was hiking on one of the park’s trails heard what sounded like a man shouting out for help. Although she could not see anyone, she was concerned that someone might be in trouble and dialed 911. When the police arrived, they were also unable to find anyone, and it wasn’t until Eric failed to return home that suspicions began to grow that something might have gone terribly wrong.

Within a very short time, the word spread of Eric’s disappearance, and people came from near and far to help search the area where he had last been seen. The response from the community was extraordinary, with hundreds of people just wanting to see what they could do to help. They were joined by photographers from across the state, who were anxious to see one of their most liked and respected colleagues returned safely to his family.

The search went on almost continuously for more than a week, with no one giving up hope despite the lengthy amount of time that Eric had been missing. Then, on June 20th, Eric’s body was found in Lake Lillinonah. Although it was not entirely clear what had led up to his death, it seemed likely that he had fallen in while looking for his mountain bike.

As the search drew to a sad end, more than 100 friends and family gathered at the Lovers Leap promontory for a candlelight vigil. The group included some of the people whose weddings he had photographed — an indication of how highly he was regarded as a photographer, and of how he touched the hearts of those he photographed.

Eric leaves behind a grief-stricken wife and children, with their distress made all the more acute by the fact that Eric was the primary breadwinner. Friends and relatives of the couple have set up a site where people can help the family and express their condolences. The Langlois Family Fund has already received generous donations from nearly 1000 individuals, as well as from companies that include MediaWhiz, Kimberly Miller Photography, Nakata Consulting, and many others. Why don’t you consider making a donation yourself, and help bring the family a little financial stability in this time of grief and need? Every contribution makes a difference and is gratefully received, no matter how small it is.

With the passing of time, the family’s grief will eventually transform into fond memories of Eric and of the precious time that they had with him. In the meantime, Amber is putting a brave face on her suffering. She recently posted some of the last photographs that Eric took, photographs of a wedding at the Bronx Zoo. She recalls how Eric told her that his eyes filled with tears a few days after the wedding as he edited the pictures, still affected by the obvious love that the couple shared. That comment alone is perhaps the best tribute to the joy and passion with which Eric lived his life.