Craig S. Semon TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF| Telegram & Gazette
An outgoing, fun-loving and enthusiastic young man who was trying to get his life back on track was struck and killed by a vehicle on the day he was to start a new job.
Cory J. Cane, 23, of Worcester, was the victim of an apparent hit-and-run accident that happened early Tuesday morning on Route 19 in Wales. His body was found on the side of the road in front of 138 Stafford Road. He was brought by Brimfield ambulance to Harrington Hospital in Southbridge, where he was pronounced dead.
A candlelight vigil in memory of Cory Cane will be held tonight on the Common in Southbridge. In addition, T-shirts will be sold and donations accepted to help raise funds for Cory’s funeral and burial. According to family, Cory lived in Southbridge for seven years.
Cory leaves a daughter, Anaya Rose Cane; his parents, Wayne A. Cane of Worcester and Joan M. (Stoliker) Cane of Southbridge ; a brother, Nathan A. Cane of Worcester; two sisters, Katrina J. Stoliker of Boylston and Tracy L. Cane of Springfield; two nephews, many aunts, uncles and cousins. Graham-Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors, 838 Main St., is directing funeral arrangements.
Nathan Cane, who is older than Cory by four years, said his brother really loved his year-and-half-old daughter, Anaya Rose Cane, and his 2-year-old nephew, Nathan A. Cane Jr. Nathan Cane said he and Cory had a special bond that only exists between brothers.
“Cory was very outgoing, fun, happy and enthusiastic. He was just a good kid all around,” Nathan Cane said. “He would never hurt a fly. He would help anybody.”
If he could see his brother alive again, even just for a moment, Nathan Cane said he probably wouldn’t say anything to him. Instead, Nathan Cane said he would just grab his kid brother and squeeze him as hard as he could.
“What am I going to miss most? I’m going to miss not being able to ever see him again,” Nathan Cane said.
The last time the two brothers talked to each other was on Cory’s final night.
State police detectives said the preliminary investigation suggests Cory Cane was likely struck by a motor vehicle. State and local police have yet to identify it. The incident, police said, likely occurred sometime between 1:30 and 4:48 a.m. Tuesday.
Nathan Cane said the last two weeks prior to his brother’s tragic death had been the best two weeks that the two brothers had in their relationship.
“When he hit 21, we didn’t really see each other too much but he started coming around a lot more now,” Nathan Cane said. “We spent our New Year’s together. We spent Christmas together. I’m so happy to have been able to do that with him.”
Nathan Cane said his brother had just gotten a job and was supposed to start working the same day they found him dead.
“He was going to be a cook at a restaurant,” Nathan Cane said. “He was going to pretty much be running everything. The guy really liked him there.”
Norman Cane said his brother was trying to get his life back on track so he could gain custody of his daughter and he came to him for help. Cory was staying with his brother at his apartment in the Vernon Hill area. The reason why Cory was in Wales is because that is where his new girlfriend lives.“The most important thing for him at this time and moment was trying to better himself and his life so he could try to get his daughter, Anaya Rose, back,” Norman Cane explained. “He ended up living with me and I was trying to help him to get his life back on track. And then he met this girl and this girl’s taken a big part in it and she got him that job. The job was closer to where she lived so she came to pick Cory up from my house and brought him out there because he had to start working the next day.”
Katrina J. Stoliker, Cory’s sister (and the oldest of the four siblings), made an impassioned plea for the hit-and-run driver to muster up the conscience to come forward or anyone who might know anything (even if they stay anonymous) about what happened that tragic night. Anyone with information can call Wales police at (413) 245-7222 or the state police Sturbridge barracks at (508) 347-3352. Anonymous tips can be texted to 274637. Type “solve” as the first word in the text and then the message.
“They took an amazing kid’s life away,” Ms. Stoliker said. “We need some kind of closure.”
“No matter whom it was, Cory would always put other people before himself. He was great with kids. You never saw him not smiling or not laughing,” Ms. Stoliker recalled. “As soon as I close my eyes, I always see Cory smiling and just full of life.”
Ms. Stoliker said their father has been in the intensive care unit since before Christmas, so the family was bracing themselves for a death in the family. But nothing could have prepared them for this.
“We were preparing for the lost of my father, not my brother,” Ms. Stoliker said. “It’s a lot right now.”
