Police identified the victim in a fatal crash on Interstate 295 in Falmouth on Friday as 26-year-old Kathy Haycock of Brunswick.
Haycock was one of two passengers in a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Brannon McRae, 29, of Augusta. The other was Joshua Haycock, who is 37 and the victim’s brother.
Maine State Police said the accident happened just before 2 p.m. when the car left the road near mile marker 12 and crashed into the stone ledge along the northbound lanes. The force of the collision was so strong that the engine was ripped from the vehicle’s frame and came to rest in the middle of the travel lane, police said.
Other motorists later told police that the driver was speeding and driving erratically right before the crash.
Both McRae and Joshua Haycock suffered serious injuries and were being treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland.
The accident remains under investigation. Police are asking anyone who saw the car before the crash or witnessed the crash to contact Maine State Police headquarters in Augusta at 624-7076 and ask for Trooper Robert Burke.
Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said Friday that the local district attorney’s office will be consulted on any potential charges against McRae.
The crash caused severe traffic backups on a congested I-295 on Friday afternoon. Northbound lanes were closed between mile markers 10 and 15 and traffic was diverted onto Route 1 in Falmouth and the Maine Turnpike.
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