Elm Street student dies in car accident on Route 106

An Elm Street School student was one of five victims of car accidents this weekend. The fatal wrecks in Loudon, Gilford and Belmont also sent multiple people to the hospital.

Aria Enciso, 8, a student at Elm Street, died following a two-vehicle accident in Loudon on Friday. 

The Loudon police and fire departments as well as officers from surrounding towns responded to the area just north of Staniels Road off Route 106 to reports of a two-vehicle collision and multiple injuries around 6:30 p.m. Friday night.

Upon arrival, officers found a Toyota 4-Runner driven by Stacy Sargent, 52, and a Mazda 3 driven by Phillip Sparacio, 36, were involved in a head-on crash, according to New Hampshire State Police.

Emergency responders transported two occupants of the 4-Runner to Concord Hospital with serious injuries, along with three occupants of the Mazda, two of whom were children, also suffering from life-threatening injuries. 

Enciso was pronounced deceased at the hospital, State Police confirmed Monday afternoon.

A preliminary investigation discovered the Mazda was traveling southbound along the roadway when it crossed the center line and collided head-on with the Toyota, which was traveling northbound. 

The State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit responded to the scene by request from Loudon police.

Route 106 remained closed for several hours, police said. 

Laconia School District Superintendent Steven Tucker sent notice on Saturday informing the Elm Street School community about the accident.

“This morning, we were informed that Aria Enciso, a child at Elm Street School, died in a car crash in the Loudon area last night,” Tucker’s notice read. “We are gearing up communications and support for our students, staff and families in the hours, days and weeks to come.”

Another notice written by Tucker and disseminated Sunday noted school counselors and social workers will be available at summer programs. 

“We will continue to assess the needs of our school community over the course of the week and beyond and work to respond accordingly,” the notice read in part.

“Please continue to keep Aria Enciso and her family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Several fundraising efforts were advertised on Facebook over the weekend, including a GoFundMe campaign which had raised over $36,000 by Monday afternoon: gofundme.com/f/support-chantel-after-arias-tragic-loss.

And two crashes resulted in three deaths in Gilford.

Police responded to the Route 3/11 bypass around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday evening after receiving reports of a head-on, two-vehicle crash, Chief Kristian Kelley said Monday morning.

That accident is under active investigation by the Belknap Accident Reconstruction Team, a group of specially trained officers from local agencies which records and analyzes evidence from crash scenes to uncover how accidents are caused. 

The two drivers involved in the crash, Mary Kalista, 68, of Farmington, and Tracey Maclean, 41, of Bristol, were both pronounced dead at the scene.

Police were at the scene for nearly six hours, leaving the bypass closed to traffic until around 1 a.m., Kelley said.

“It was a horrible tragedy for the weekend and for my officers,” Kelley said. 

While distracted driving, fatigue or substance use are not thought to be factors in this crash, Kelley cautioned drivers to remain sober and attentive while navigating the roadways of the Lakes Region. An 18-year-old from Northfield died after a crash in Belmont Friday afternoon, and speed may have been a factor in that accident.

“There’s obviously a lot of serious injuries, accidents and fatalities on our roadways,” Kelley said. “Make sure to be careful while driving.”

A pedestrian was killed in Gilford on Sunday evening, after an elderly woman suffering from dementia hit him while driving a car. 

Alfred Worthen, 50, of Gilford, was struck by a Lexus SUV driven by Anne Fauci, 74, of South Hamilton, Massachusetts, around 5:13 p.m. on Sunday on Gilford Avenue, in the area of Alvah Wilson Road, Gilford Police Capt. Dustin Parent said Monday afternoon. Worthen was exercising in the large breakdown lane. 

Laconia police officers received a call from a resident Sunday evening alerting them his wife, Fauci, who is a non-verbal dementia patient without a valid driver’s license, took the keys to his SUV and was traveling eastbound on Gilford Avenue.

Police put out a “be on the lookout” notice, but soon received reports of a vehicle-on-pedestrian crash near Alvah Wilson Road, Parent said.

Worthen was pronounced dead at the scene and police immediately notified the county attorney, turning the case over to his office. As of Monday afternoon, the County Attorney’s Office was not pursuing criminal charges in the crash. Parent noted Fauci did not have a clear mindset when the events unfolded. 

Gilford Avenue was closed to traffic until around 10:30 p.m. while the Belknap Accident Reconstruction Team investigated the crash. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correctly characterize the position of a pedestrian killed in the collision on Gilford Avenue. Alfred Worthen, 50, of Gilford, was exercising in the large breakdown lane when he was struck by a Lexus SUV on July 14.