One person is dead and a pair of Gardiner men injured after a crash on Plains Road in Readfield on Wednesday evening.

Chief Deputy Ryan Reardon of the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office said three men were taken from the crash to Central Maine Medical Center. One man, whom investigators have not yet been able to identify, died, Reardon said. Deputies on Thursday afternoon believed they had identified the man and were attempting to confirm their information with family members.

“Deputies are attempting to contact family or friends to help with the identification,” Reardon said.

The state Medical Examiner’s Office was expected to conduct an autopsy Thursday to determine a cause of death, he said.

The driver, Thorr Ellis, 20, and a passenger, Bradley Plevyak, 19, both of Gardiner, suffered broken bones and internal injuries, Reardon said. He said both were expected to survive.

The crash occurred shortly before 5 p.m. in the area of 228 Plains Road as the men were heading north in Ellis’ Audi A4. Ellis told investigators he was driving north when he swerved to avoid hitting a deer, Reardon said. The car spun out of control, hit a large boulder and sheared off a tree before coming to rest on its roof.

It is unclear if any of the men wore a seat belt, though the unidentified man was ejected from the car. Ellis and Plevyak stayed in the car and were able to get out on their own, Reardon said.

Investigators are uncertain where in the car the unidentified man or Plevyak were sitting, Reardon said.

Maine State Police were called to reconstruct the crash.

“Speed appears to be a factor,” Reardon said.

Kennebec Journal archives indicate Plevyak graduated this year from Gardiner Area High School.

Ellis’ Facebook page says he is a 2012 graduate of Gardiner, but he was not among those named in a list that appeared in the Kennebec Journal.

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