Fishing buddies and best friends Janice Bateman and Frances Brinn, both 82, died following a Thursday crash on the Outer Banks.
The women, both from Manteo, were returning from a fishing trip in a Ford passenger car when Bateman attempted to make a left turn off U.S. 64 at Pirate’s Cove Marina, said N.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. D.C. Pridgen.
A F-450 Ford truck was coming off the Washington Baum Bridge, traveling west, when the passenger car apparently “failed to yield right away,” and was hit by the truck at 11:48 a.m., Pridgen said.
The five occupants of the truck, including children, suffered minor injuries, the sergeant said.
Bateman and Brinn died at area hospitals following the collision.
“They were best friends for decades, lived right around the corner from each other,” Pridgen said. “They’d been fishing, they were good fishing buddies.”
Bateman’s obituary published Saturday by Twiford Funeral Home in Manteo described her as an avid fisherman and true Washington Redskins, now the Commanders, fan who loved her large family of four children, 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
Obituary information for Brinn, called “Nanny” by Bateman’s grandchildren, wasn’t immediately available.
The crash happened just before a strong thunderstorm swept across the area with flooding rain, which stalled traffic and the initial investigation, Pridgen said.
Highway patrol determined that speed was not a factor and no charges have been filed, he said.
