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According to the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Thomas Ray of Bunnlevel was westbound in a GMC truck when he collided with an eastbound Ford driven by Elinito Saustegui of Sanford on U.S. 421 near the Swanns Station Road intersection. A motorcyclist traveling behind the Ford and swerved to avoid the crash, and he was thrown from his motorcycle. That man was airlifted to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. The accident occurred on Monday afternoon.
On Saturday in Watauga County, the North Carolina Highway Patrol says a pickup truck driven by Michael Pinkham was traveling at a high rate of speed when it crossed the center line on U.S. 421 near the Tennessee state line at 8:30 p.m., violently striking a Honda Civic head-on. Inside the Honda was a family from Mountaun City, Tennessee: Nicholas Blackwell, 24, his wife Molly, 23, and their infant Harper, 11 months old. All three died at the scene. Pinkham, of Ridgeway, South Carolina, died an hour later at Watauga Medical Center in Boone.