Investigation Ongoing into Double Fatal Crash

UPDATED 5:34 p.m. April 24, 2015: The State Police are releasing the names of the victims of  last night’s double fatal crash in Swansea.

Preliminary reports indicate that one occupant, 20-year-old NICHOLAS J. HOPPER of Taunton, exited the vehicle with the help of passing motorists. The driver of the vehicle, 22-year-old KATRINA L. GOMES of Taunton, and passenger 19-year-old JOSEPH M. VODDEN of Taunton, were trapped in the car and determined to be deceased at the scene. HOPPER was transported to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence with serious injuries.

Preliminary investigation by Troop D and the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section suggests that at approximately 11:09 p.m. yesterday a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt was being driven west on Route 195 in Swansea when, for reasons still under investigation, it spun off the southern edge of the road into the grass median. After leaving the road surface the vehicle struck a tree and caught on fire. Preliminary reports indicated that one occupant, a young man, exited the vehicle with the help of passing motorists who stopped. The other two occupants, a young adult man and a young adult woman, were trapped in the car and determined to be deceased at the scene. The surviving victim was transported to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence with serious injuries.