Based on a re-creation of the accident, Raleigh police know speed was a factor, but they said something at the accident scene has led them to question if alcohol was a factor.
"The (accident) report indicates that the investigators found reason to suspect that alcohol may have been involved," said Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue. "That certainly doesn't confirm that it was, but there was enough reason for them to do some follow-up work."
Police said the car, driven by 18-year-old Baker Wood, was traveling at more than 115 mph when it hit a concrete barrier on an exit ramp where the new U.S. Highway 64 bypass meets the Interstate 440 Beltline. It then careened off a bridge, crashed into the woods and burst into flames.
Wood, Anthony Bostic, 17, Steven George, 18, and Timothy Steinberg, 18, died at the scene. The four teens, all students at Wakefield High School, were returning from a championship high school basketball game in Greenville when the accident occurred.
Police are waiting for tests from the Office of the State Medical Examiner to confirm whether alcohol was involved.
"If the test comes back positive for alcohol, the investigation will continue and one question investigators will be asking is where did the alcohol come from," Sughrue said.
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