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2 Best Friends Killed In Orange County Crash

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Jun 23, 2009 6:56 pm US/Eastern

2 Best Friends Killed In Orange County Crash

  They did everything together in life – to the point of death. Two best friends were killed in a horrific car crash after their car was struck by another driver's on a winding, rural road in Blooming Grove, Orange County.

Flowers mark the scene of the crash, along with two names written on the guardrail: Melissa and Marina, whose lives and fates are forever intertwined.

College sophomores Melissa Martucci and Marina Petersen weren't just best friends, they were cousins, born just two months apart. They died within minutes of each other early Saturday.

"They were really, really close, like sisters," says Justin Rodriguez, a friend of the victims. Rodriguez says the accident has left everyone who knew the girls in shock.

The cousins were driving along a stretch of Route 208 when a car suddenly veered the center lane and hit him.

"It doesn't appear they even, in all likelihood, probably never saw it coming until the collision occurred," said Lt. Brian Shortall of the New York State Police.

Shortall says the car that caused the wreck was speeding, and the driver, 23-year-old Matthew Ponti, had just left a Washingtonville bar.

"I was told he was on epileptic medicine and he was not able to drink, and that he's usually the designated driver when he does go out," said Mike Pagano, who manages the bar where Ponti had come from.

Police are investigating all the circumstances with an eye on filing charges.

The awful accident comes during high school graduation season. It's a sobering reminder for young people.

"You feel so bad it happened," says Brittany Brenyo, a friend of the victims. "You don't think it can happen to someone so young, or someone like us, or someone we know. And then it does."

Martucci was studying to be a nurse and Petersen planned to major in international business.

The other driver remains hospitalized in serious condition.

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