CARMEL, Maine — A community is in grieving after two people were found dead after a car crash in Carmel.
Police on Wednesday identified the victims as Steven Shelley, 23, of Hermon, and Kadin Brown, 17, of Newburgh. Officials said Shelley was driving and Brown was a passenger.
At 9:19 p.m. on Monday, the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for a serious crash on Route 69.
When police arrived, they found a sedan that had driven off the roadway, striking several trees. Police said the car appeared to have been speeding southbound before losing control, crossing the median, and leaving the roadway.
Shelley and Brown were found in the car and pronounced dead at the scene.
Neighbors say the road can be dangerous, especially with a nearby hill acting as a blind spot.
"People speed all the time, even last night. All of us neighbors came together, and [a] passersby, they stopped, and they put their lights on," Kristina Hamilton, who lives across the street from where the crash occurred, said.
A friend of one of those killed in the accident said they were a well-loved person by the whole community and were always there to cheer someone up.
"He always let me know that he was there if I needed anything. I can't thank him enough for that because one time when I really needed somebody, he was there for me," Jorge Malone of Hermon said.
Hermon continued, "He stopped at my house one day. It was only supposed to be for like five minutes, and it turned into an hour. That's the kind of [thing] I remembered about him. He wanted to make sure you were ok."
Hampden Academy alerted its community around 5 p.m. on Tuesday that one of the two young men killed in the crash was a student there.
The Penobscot County Sheriff's Department is leading the crash investigation and said no new information will be released until Wednesday.