A 2006 Millbrook High School graduate who attended Western Carolina University was killed in a motorcycle accident in the North Carolina mountains Thursday.

Cameron Lloyd Wagner, 20, of 1452 S. Country Club Drive in Cullowhee, died after his 1997 Yamaha went out of control just before noon about 10 miles south of Sylva, according to a state Highway Patrol report. Sylva is in Jackson County, west of Asheville and near WCU's home in Cullowhee.

Wagner had owned the motorcycle only about a week and a half, said his grandfather, Frank Alley of Cary. He bought it because some of his friends ride, and he wanted to join them. Two of them were with Wagner on their own motorcycles when he crashed.

His mother, Cindy Wagner of Raleigh, said his bike slipped on gravel as he was rounding a curve and went out of control.

Wagner was tall and lanky, she said, which ,along with his perpetual cheerfulness, led to the name he was given in the YMCA's parent-child Y-Guides program: Smiling Splinter.

At Millbrook, Wagner played on the club roller hockey team. He also played ice hockey in the Raleigh Youth Hockey Association for about eight years, she said.

After graduating from Millbrook, he stuck with roller hockey, listed on the WCU squad roster as a defenseman.

His father is an engineer. Cameron Wagner was making it a family tradition by studying engineering at WCU, his mother said.

He loved tinkering with cars to make them faster, Cindy Wagner said, and owned a speedy Chevrolet Z-28 Camaro. Motorcycles were a new passion but fit with his need for adrenaline.

"He was always in everything for the thrill," she said. "He always wanted to be the first one on the tallest zip line.

"It ended with the motorcycle. His friends and his neighbors told us how much he had come to love riding."

Alley said Wagner was wearing a helmet and riding responsibly when he crashed.

"Supposedly they weren't speeding or anything, but I haven't heard anything except that he lost control and the bike maybe went down a ravine and kept tumbling," Alley said, adding that the motorcycle was destroyed.

"He was a great kid, and it was quite a shock," he said. "You don't expect to bury your child or grandchild."

Survivors also include Wagner's father, David Wagner of Raleigh, and a younger sister and brother, Caroline and Grant, both students at Millbrook.

Visitation is today from 5 to 7 p.m. at Mitchell Funeral Home, 7209 Glenwood Ave. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Monday at North Raleigh United Methodist Church. Wagner will be buried afterward at Raleigh Memorial Park.

(News researcher Lamara Williams contributed to this story.)