Mebane man IDed as victim in Gastonia wreck

The Gastonia Police Department has identified a 20-year-old man killed May 2 in a single-car accident as Paul Centelis Nichols Jr. of Mebane.
According to the Gaston Gazette, Nichols was a passenger in a 1997 Kia car driven by 24-year-old Jermaine Mitchell Page of Waynesville when the accident happened.
The Gazette reported that witnesses told police that Page was driving more than the speed limit northbound on I-85 around 10:30 p.m. between the U.S. 321 and Ozark Avenue exits when he came up on a slower car and attempted to make a lane change.
Page lost control of the car, ran off the road on the right, struck several small trees and flipped several times before coming to rest at the bottom of an embankment. Both men were thrown from the car, according to a press release. Page landed near the tree line and was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition earlier in the week.
Nichols was found near the car and was transported to Gaston Memorial Hospital where he later died. Police believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
Officers spent the days following the accident trying to find Nichols' relatives. A press released originally said that Nichols lived on North College Street in Charlotte. The Gazette reported that police had trouble locating family for both men because both apparently drifted around the state and did not have formal addresses.
An obituary lists Nichols' address as 4778 Mrs. White Lane in Mebane. The obituary also said that Nichols attended Eastern Alamance High School and was working at Big and Tall Clothing Store in Charlotte.