Two women who were close friends for many years were recently killed in a crash on the Outer Banks, North Carolina officials told news outlets.
The women, identified as Frances Brinn and Janice Bateman, were driving along U.S. 64, near the Pirate’s Cove Marina in Manteo, before noon on June 27 when they collided with a pickup truck, the State Highway Patrol told The Outer Banks Voice.
They were attempting to turn into Pirate’s Cove but failed to yield to a Ford F-450 truck, causing a crash, the outlet reported. Officials say Brinn and Bateman were taken to hospitals for treatment but ultimately died from their injuries.
The 82-year-olds were “best friends for decades,” Highway Patrol Sgt. D.C. Pridgen told The Virginian-Pilot, adding that they “lived right around the corner from each other.”
“They’d been fishing,” Pridgen said. “They were good fishing buddies.”
All five people in the pickup truck survived, suffering minor injuries, officials told the outlet. No charges have been filed against anyone involved in the fatal crash.
Bateman, “a loving mother and devoted grandmother,” had four children and 19 grandchildren, according to an obituary. She “found immense joy in the simple pleasures of life,” and was “an avid fisherman who cherished family gatherings, especially while cooking Sunday dinners.”
There doesn’t appear to be an obituary available for Brinn as of the afternoon of June 30.
Manteo, located on Roanoke Island, is a roughly 190-mile drive east from Raleigh.
