4 days ago
Maine mom sees twin toddlers killed by hit and run driver eight years after she saw son, 5, die in waterfall horror
A Maine mother lost her twin boys after an SUV slammed into all three of them, just years after losing her first son in a freak boating accident.
Mollie Egold is being forced to cope with the death of her sons Bradley and Noah, two, after witnessing their older brother William, drown in a river at age five.
Egold, 33, was pushing her two-year-old toddlers in a stroller on a street near their home in Albion on July 11, when they were struck from behind by a white Hyundai, WGME reported.
Bradley was pronounced dead at the scene. Egold and Noah were rushed to a hospital in Portland.
Despite doctors' best efforts, Noah was determined to be brain dead on July 13, according to a GoFundMe set up for the family by a friend.
Two days later on July 15, he was taken off life support after doctors determined that he still had no brain activity.
The twins' grandmother, Martha Collins, described the harrowing moment she arrived home with Egold's other son to find her daughter and the boys lying stricken on the ground.
'He tried so hard to save that baby,' Collins said through tears of a passerby who attempted CPR. 'All of a sudden, I saw them put the blanket over Bradley's face. And that was it for me. I knew he was gone.'
Egold, also injured in the collision, has already undergone two surgeries already for her multiple broken bones.
Collins said Egold is lucky to still be alive.
'She's broken. She's crying,' she said of her daughter. 'My pastor at my church has made sure that every single day, there's people up there sitting with her and visiting with her.'
Police say the driver of the Hyundai who callously struck the family of three was under the influence and fled the scene.
Police later arrested 44-year-old Benjamin Lancaster, identifying him as the man behind the wheel.
New court documents obtained by WGME reveal that Lancaster tried to tell police that his girlfriend was actually the one driving.
But security camera footage in police affidavits appear to disprove that.
A picture of the car about three miles before the crash shows the vehicle in pristine condition. Police say he was the one in the driver's seat at this time.
Another image shows the same car with a massive dent in the front end driving on Main Street in Albion. Police say he was still driving the car.
Lancaster remains in the Kennebec County Jail after being charged with manslaughter, operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing death and leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury.
Collins added Noah was still breathing immediately after the crash despite two fractures in the back of his skull.
'His eyes were open looking right at me. He knew I was there,' she said. 'I think I prayed without stopping for the last four days. I wanted that baby to live.'
Collins was outraged at the man who allegedly killed both of her grandsons.
'He took away our babies. He took away our life, our family,' she said. 'That man should be charged with murder, not manslaughter. This is murder. He murdered my babies.'
Egold is unfortunately no stranger to tragedy. She lost her first son, William, in 2017 when he was five years old.
The two were in a canoe together on a river in North Vassalboro and the current looked calm at first.
Suddenly, the speed of the water picked up and the canoe was sent over a waterfall, which led to both Egold and William being ejected from the boat.
William got caught in debris underwater but Egold managed to free him before they were thrown over a second waterfall. William died hours later in the hospital.
