Every time Bedford, N.S., resident Richard Novak hears a train on the track where he lives, he thinks of his brother Kenny — even though it’s been 56 years since his death. “It’s the first thing I think about in the day, is my brother Kenny. He was a great little guy,” he told CTV News. Fifteen-year-old Kenny Novak was one of three Syndey, N.S., youths whose bodies were found after being run over by a train in Smyrna Mills, Maine, on July 10, 1970. David Burrows, age 17, and Terry Burt, age 20, were also found dead. After their deaths, they became known as the Cape Breton Three. According to the Bangor Daily News’ reporting from the time, the train’s engineer saw what he thought was a rubber raft on the train tracks around 7 a.m. that day. As he got closer, he realized they were sleeping bags. Though he applied the brakes, it was too late — the train ran over the three young people, and an autopsy ruled they died “instantly from severe multiple head and body injuries.” “Everybody says the same thing — there’s no way that three boys that age are going to sleep on the railroad tracks. There was no movement in any of the sleeping bags,” Richard said. At the time, police ruled no foul play was involved. The Bangor Daily News reported that the local deputy sheriff at the time dismissed the idea they had been placed on the tracks based on medical evidence. But Richard, and his late brother Lorne, believed the three were dead before the train struck them. “I think they were murdered. They were put in the sleeping bags, they were taken to that spot,” Richard said. And he is not alone. Over 3,100 people have signed a petition asking the State of Maine to re-open the investigation. The petition was started by Maine resident Travis Hartford, who spoke about The Cape Breton Three’s story as part of his Locating the Lost podcast in 2019. “There’s a lot of questions and a lot of things that didn’t make sense about the case,” Hartford said. “Maybe something’s going to come out that will jog someone’s memory.” Now, Richard is looking for closure — and Kenny’s death certificate, which he said Maine never provided to his family. “What we’re trying to do right now is we’re trying to get an apology from the State of Maine,” he said. Maine’s attorney general did not provide an interview for the story, while CTV News did not hear back from requests for interviews with the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
