Route 520 fatal crash still under investigation Driver, 22, and passenger, 18, killed in Middletown BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer Corrine Quintana Middletown police are seeking witnesses to an accident last week that took the lives of two young Long Branch High School graduates. Corinne Quintana, 22, of Eatontown, and Roberto Pereira, 18, of Long Branch, were killed in a car accident Nov. 1 on Newman Springs Road in the Lincroft section of Middletown. Pereira was on his way to classes at Brookdale Community College and was to drop off Quintana at her job on the way. According to Long Branch Superintendent of Schools Joseph M. Ferraina, the young people shared high hopes for the future and the common experience of being only children. "They both were so close with their mothers," Ferraina said. Moments after Ferraina heard the news about the accident last week, he said family members of both Quintana and Pereira reached out to the school for support. Pereira graduated from Long Branch High School in June. Ferraina said that the day before the accident, he met Pereira at the Cafe Lapa on Broadway in Long Branch. Roberto Pereira "He told me he was going to Brookdale and he thanked me," Ferraina said. "He thanked me," Ferraina repeated. "That was the kind of kid he was. According to Middletown Police Lt. Craig Weber, the accident occurred at 8:11 a.m. on Newman Springs Road. Pereira was driving a black Acura and was traveling westbound on Newman Springs Road. Both were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Weber. According to police reports, Pereira lost control of his vehicle and crossed over the roadway and collided with a dump truck traveling eastbound on Newman Springs Road. "We believe the dump truck moved into the right lane heading eastbound after the impact," Weber said. The dump truck was then struck by a school bus with no passengers in it, according to police reports. The drivers of both the school bus and dump truck and the passenger in the dump truck were treated at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank and released with minor injuries the day of the accident, police said. Police are seeking more details about the accident and are asking any witnesses to call the Middletown Police Department at (732) 615-2045. Weber said he does not anticipate any charges being pressed in this case. Quintana graduated from Long Branch High School in 2002 and was a recent graduate of Brookdale Community College, where she earned an associate's degree in criminal justice. A relative of Quintana, Gail Laura, spoke on behalf of Quintana's grief-stricken mother Monday. "She wanted to work with the FBI," Laura said, adding how proud Quintana's mother, Margarita Ramirez, was of her daughter. "Corinne had such strength for a 22-year-old," Laura continued. "She was the most caring, the most giving human being. She was as beautiful inside as she was outside. "She was an amazing daughter, friend, niece and granddaughter," Laura added. Services for Quintana were held Saturday at Flock Funeral Home in Long Branch, and a Mass was celebrated at St. John's Episcopal Church, also in Long Branch, on Sunday. Pereira's services were held on Sunday at Woolley Funeral Home in Long Branch and a service was held Monday at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in West Long Branch.