Local News

The boys’ mother, who reportedly lost another young son in a canoeing accident years earlier, was also hit while pushing their stroller and was seriously injured.

Twin 2-year-old boys in Maine are dead after they, along with their mother, were hit by an alleged drunk driver in a hit-and-run in Albion, Maine, last Friday.

Mollie Egold, 33, of Albion, was pushing her twin boys in a stroller along Hussey Road shortly after 5 p.m. when the family was struck from behind, killed-2-injured-in-albion-hit-and-run-maine-twin-mollie-egold-hussey-road-202-general-store-gofundme”>WGME reports. They were reportedly walking to a store.

Police arrived at the scene after receiving a call from a nearby resident who had responded, according to the news station.

Egold’s son, Bradley, was pronounced dead at the scene, a GoFundMe page set up for the family says. Her other son, Noah, was airlifted via LifeFlight to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Noah was removed from life support on Tuesday after being declared brain dead, according to the fundraising page.

Egold, who was also transported via LifeFlight initially, remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition as of Tuesday, Maine State Police said.

After the crash, State Police identified the vehicle as a white Hyundai Veloster and the driver, who allegedly fled the scene, as Benjamin Lancaster, 44 of Albion, according to a press release. Lancaster was taken into custody and initially charged with operating under the influence causing death, two counts of operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing death, and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury.

He appeared in Kennebec County Court on Monday, and his bail was set at $100,000.

“Obviously, he took off for a reason, but he’s never going to live this down,” Elsie Barnett, an employee of the store Egold was walking to, told WGME.

The GoFundMe had raised over $43,000 as of Thursday morning. Part of the funds will go toward purchasing cemetery plots for the twins beside their brother, who drowned in a canoeing accident in 2017 at the age of 5.

The local grocery store will also have a donation bucket, and the local church is hosting a dinner to raise funds, according to WGME. 

Funeral services for the twins will be postponed until Egold is discharged from the hospital, the fundraising page states.