Local News
29-Year-Old Michaela Waldrop Killed in Fatal Motorcycle Crash on Route 16 in Gorham
GORHAM, N.H. — Authorities are investigating a fatal single-vehicle motorcycle crash that claimed the life of a Massachusetts woman late Thursday night on North Main Street (Route 16) in Gorham.
According to the Gorham Police Department, emergency crews were dispatched at approximately 10:32 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2026, after receiving multiple 911 calls reporting a motorcycle crash near mile marker 114.4 on North Main Street, also known as the Berlin-Gorham Road.
The preliminary investigation determined that a 2011 black Harley-Davidson motorcycle, operated by Ryan Collins Tidwell, 29, of Berlin, New Hampshire, was traveling with a second motorcycle when the crash occurred.
Authorities have not yet released details regarding what caused the motorcycle to crash.
The passenger on Tidwell’s motorcycle, Michaela Svetlana Waldrop, 29, of Malden, Massachusetts, suffered fatal injuries in the collision and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials confirmed that her next of kin have been notified.
Following the crash, investigators closed a section of Berlin-Gorham Road (Route 16) for approximately six hours while members of the Gorham Police Department and the New Hampshire State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction (C.A.R.) Unit conducted a detailed examination of the crash scene.
During the closure, traffic was diverted through the Cascade Flats area.
The Gorham Police Department was assisted at the scene by the Berlin Police Department as well as Gorham Fire and EMS, whose personnel provided emergency response and scene support.
Authorities emphasized that every aspect of the fatal motorcycle crash remains under active investigation.
No additional information regarding contributing factors or possible causes has been released at this time.
Anyone with information that may assist investigators is encouraged to contact the Gorham Police Department as the investigation into the deadly crash continues.
Local News
Jimmy Brooks Killed in Wrong-Way Tesla Crash on I-26 in Buncombe County, Driver Bradley Vance Charged
BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. — Jimmy Lee Brooks, 42, of Leicester, North Carolina, died after a wrong-way Tesla crash involving three vehicles on Interstate 26 near Asheville on Thursday afternoon, October 22, 2026.
Several other people were injured in the collision, and the Tesla driver has been charged in connection with the fatal crash.
According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, Bradley Vance Lanier, 54, of Taylors, South Carolina, was driving a Tesla westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-26 near Exit 37 when the vehicle struck a Honda SUV head-on before colliding with a Honda passenger car.
Brooks was a passenger in the Honda passenger car. He was transported to Mission Hospital in Asheville, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol said troopers responded to the crash at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday near mile marker 37 on eastbound I-26.
According to the agency’s statement, the Tesla entered the interstate traveling west in the eastbound lanes near Exit 37, also associated with Long Shoals Road. The vehicle first struck a Honda SUV head-on and then collided with a Honda passenger car.
A trooper from a neighboring county arrived shortly after the collision and began providing assistance to a passenger inside the Honda passenger car.
The car’s driver and two passengers were transported to Mission Hospital with serious injuries. Brooks was among the passengers and later died at the hospital. Authorities said the conditions of the other occupants were not immediately known.
The driver of the Honda SUV was also taken to Mission Hospital with minor injuries and was later released.
Lanier, the driver of the Tesla, sustained minor injuries and was transported to Mission Hospital before being released, according to the Highway Patrol.
Troopers subsequently charged him with four offenses:
- Driving while impaired (DWI)
- Felony death by vehicle
- Felony serious injury
- Reckless driving
Following his release from the hospital, Lanier was taken to the Buncombe County Detention Facility, where he was being held on a $5 million secured bond, according to the agency’s statement.
The charges are allegations, and the case will proceed through the court system. The official statement does not establish a conviction.
Interstate 26 was closed for approximately two hours while troopers investigated the collision and documented the scene.
The investigation centers on the circumstances that led the Tesla to travel in the wrong direction on the eastbound side of the interstate and the subsequent collisions involving the two Honda vehicles.
Authorities have not released the current medical conditions of all the injured occupants.
The fatal crash claimed the life of Brooks, a Leicester resident, and left several other people requiring hospital treatment.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol is investigating the collision. Further information about the case may be released as the investigation and legal proceedings continue.