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Letters to Hi-Way Safety Systems employees confirm ‘private gathering’ in Pembroke

For the first time, we are hearing from the president of the Rockland company Hi-Way Safety Systems after several employees were arrested and two people died following a company holiday party.

Multiple sources gave Boston 25 News copies of two letters sent to the staff at Hi-Way Safety Systems, one dated Jan. 8, the other from last week.

Related: MassDOT: Hi-Way Safety Systems can no longer bid on state contracts

The letters came from Kathy DeLong, the company’s president, and provided new details about what happened after that Dec. 28 Christmas party at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Pembroke.

According to the letter, GPS data from the crumpled company truck shows 31-year-old Gregory Goodsell stopped at a liquor store and a bar in Marshfield before driving to a “private gathering” in Pembroke.

While the letter does not state the location of the gathering, multiple sources say there was an after-party at DeLong’s home. Police say Goodsell told officers he drank and did cocaine at a holiday party at his boss’s house in Pembroke before the crash that killed 13-year-old Claire Zisserson.

Sources say there was also another after-party at a Rockland motel, where police found Joseph Amaral, a Hi-Way Saftey Systems worker, unresponsive with blood on his mouth and bruising on his forehead the next morning and later died.

>>>Timeline of a holiday tragedy in Pembroke

On top of offering condolences to the families who lost loved ones, the emails also made effective immediately several changes in company policy. One of which is mandatory “return to work” drug testing for all employees for all seasonal work.

Also, non-supervisors no longer have any access to company vehicles during non-work hours. In one excerpt the letter reads:

“The company will always arrange ride-share, taxi or other safe transportation home in any situation where an employee needs it – as was the case on December 28 and December 29. Unfortunately the employee involved in the fatal collision both refused an arranged ride and refused to surrender keys to the vehicle he used without authorization.”

>>>MORE: More arrests, charges surface after Hi-Way Safety Systems holiday party

The letter also says the company will cooperate with all authorities during the investigation.