Maine Maritime Academy will hold a vigil Sunday night for the four students who died in a car crash just off campus on Saturday.
The college plans to hold the service at 6:30 p.m. on the lawn of Leavitt Hall to remember Riley Ignacio-Cameron, 20, of Aquinnah, Massachusetts; Brian Kenealy, 20, of York; Chase Fossett, 21, of Gardiner; and Luke Simpson, 22, of Rockport, Massachusetts, according to a school official. All are welcome.
The four men died early Saturday morning when a Range Rover driven by Joshua Goncalves-Radding, 20, of North Babylon, New York, on Route 166 left the road, struck a tree and burst into flames.
Two other passengers in the car — Maine Maritime students 20-year-old Noelle Tavares of North Falmouth, Massachusetts, and 20-year-old Dominick Gecoya of Middleton, Massachusetts — were brought to local hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening, according to police.
Some former educators remembered their late pupils Sunday morning. Fossett’s old high school principal said he was a great student athlete and all around “well-respected school citizen.”
Fossett, a junior at the college, was a Class of 2020 graduate who played both soccer and lacrosse, according to Gardiner Area High School principal Chad Kempton.
“It’s a very sad morning for a lot of people,” Kempton said.
Kempton said he knew Fossett’s family and went to high school with his mother. One of Kempton’s daughters was in the same graduating class as Fossett, too.
“He was just a great young man,” Kempton said. “There’s a lot of young folks out there that learned the news yesterday afternoon. It’s just a terrible thing to happen.”
The high school didn’t have any memorials planned, but Kempton expected there might be something in the coming days after the Fossett family could be consulted. Plenty of memories were already being shared on Facebook.
“We will definitely honor and remember him as a community,” Kempton said.
Fossett was excited to go to Castine and study at the academy, where he was an international business and logistics major.
“I think he was a great fit for Maine Maritime Academy,” Kempton said. “He was enjoying his experience there.”
Other former school staff remembered other students who were killed in the crash.
Ignacio-Cameron graduated from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 2020, and the local school community was devastated, according to the MV Times,
“He was a really kind young man,” Assistant Principal Jeremy Light told the Times. “We are all devastated by this news and his passing. We will make sure to have all of our adjustment counselors available for anyone that wants to come and speak or process the event. We know the class of 2020 will be coming home soon for the holidays and we will be available should they need counseling for losing a classmate.”
