Mancuso

A 2007 graduate of South Kingstown High School who died in a Charlestown car accident Friday morning was remembered as a beautiful blue-eyed boy who grew into a caring man.

Chad M. Mancuso, 20, of Coddington Way, South Kingstown, died when his car left Route 1 at King’s Factory Road and struck a tree, Charlestown police said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, said Charlestown Police Lt. Patrick J. McMahon. His body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office.

The accident was discovered at 6 a.m. when officers checked out a report of a car down an embankment. McMahon said an accident reconstruction team is investigating. It appears that the car had been southbound, that it traveled 100 feet before hitting the tree and that speed was a factor, McMahon said. Mancuso was not wearing a seat belt, he said.

Alcohol did not appear to be involved, McMahon said. The police were determining who he had been with and why he was traveling south, he said.

One resident of King’s Factory Road told the police he heard a noise about 2:30 a.m., McMahon said.

Mancuso was taking the semester off from Florida Gulf Coast University, said his aunt, Lori Paterson of Narragansett, one of the family members gathering at the home of parents Deborah and Carl Mancuso in Wakefield.

“He’s just an awesome kid,” Paterson said. “He would help anybody out.”

She said he may have fallen asleep or swerved to avoid an animal. He had been helping his father fix up a house they had bought for resale, she said.

His two brothers, Jason, 31, and Eric, 28, drove home together from Manhattan Friday morning, Jason Mancuso said, trying to “make heads or tails” of the tragedy and remembering family ski vacations in New Hampshire.

The family had been together for Easter and the weekend before for a cousin’s birthday. “We were really, really close,” he said.

Jason Mancuso said Chad was “the cutest little baby, with curly blond hair and blue eyes.” Jason and Eric both have slight builds, Jason said, but Chad was athletic and liked to prove his strength against his older brothers.

“He was a beautiful, kind, caring, intelligent man. He loved his family,” she said, describing it as a very close Italian family.

Chad made the honor roll through most of high school and played volleyball for South Kingstown. Family members said he was inspired by Coach Victoria Tefft and helped her whenever he could. He earned an honorable mention on the all-state volleyball team in 2007.

During his freshman year at Lasell College in Newton, Mass., he studied sports science, a spokeswoman for the college said. He also made a “significant playing contribution” as a rookie on the men’s volleyball team, his college coach said.

Coach Jonah Mytro remembered him as “a great kid and a hard worker.” He had a great attitude, Mytro said, and his parents “came to every single game.”

Paterson said Chad loved playing basketball with his father and was like a brother to her two daughters. Through tears, she said he was well-liked and the family had heard from many friends who were coming in to bid him farewell.

— With reports from Thomas J. Morgan

dnaylor@projo.com