NH man killed in crash on Maine’s Golden Road

By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff

INDIAN PURCHASE TOWNSHIP — A New Hampshire man died Saturday, Aug. 10  in a crash on the Golden Road.

William Tobey, 33, of Rollinsford, New Hampshire, was driving a gray 2023 Toyota Tacoma on the Golden Road in T3 Indian Purchase Township about 12:30 a.m. when he went off the right side of the road, reentered and then went off the left side of the road, crashing into a stand of trees and rolling the Tacoma onto its side, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Tobey suffered minor injuries, and his front passenger, 24-year-old Benjamin Farquhar of Millinocket, was taken to Millinocket Regional Hospital, where he was treated for injuries not considered life-threatening, Moss said Monday afternoon.

Tobey’s rear passenger, 23-year-old Benjamin Harvey of Rollinsford, New Hampshire, died at the scene.

Moss said that it appears the men weren’t wearing seatbelts, and speed and alcohol appear to be factors in the crash.

The crash remains under investigation.

The Golden Road is a nearly 100-mile private road stretching from Millinocket to the Canadian border built by the Great Northern Paper Co. It was completed in 1972.

The iconic Maine road has been the site of numerous crashes over the years, including a fatal collision involving a logging truck in 2017 and a double fatal in 2016. The remote location of the dirt road can pose a challenge for those in need of help. Three Millinocket residents may have been stranded for several hours with serious internal injuries after an overnight crash in 2012.