Updated: Four dead in Friday night head-on collision in East Marion are identified

Southold police Saturday afternoon released the names of the four people killed in a fiery head-on collision Friday night in East Marion. Police said Saturday morning in a news release that the cars collided just west of Truman’s Beach, and both cars caught fire, killing the passengers in both cars.

A release Saturday afternoon identified the deceased as: Heath Miller, 47, of Greenport; William Price, 55, of Wilton, Conn.; Peter Smith, 80, of Brooklyn; and Patricia O’Neill, 66, of Brooklyn.

The updated release said Mr. Miller and Mr. Price were traveling westbound on Route 25 in a 2023 Tesla; Dr. Smith and Dr. O’Neill were traveling eastbound in a 2020 Ford Explorer when the cars collided head-on.

In an email to The Suffolk Times, Greenport resident Diane Ravitch said, “I was heartbroken to learn that two of the victims in the head-on collision in East Marion were Dr. Peter R. Smith and Dr. Patricia O’Neill. They were friends, in addition to the fact that Dr. Smith treated me when I had a life-threatening pulmonary embolism in 1998. Dr. O’Neill was a greatly respected surgeon. Their deaths are a grievous loss for the many people whose lives they saved over many years.”

The accident occurred at 11:30 p.m. Friday. The release said, “The crash is currently being investigated by the Southold Town Police Department and the New York State Police accident reconstructive team. Suffolk County Police Emergency Services Unit as well as East Marion, Orient and Southold Fire Departments responded.”

In an interview Saturday afternoon, Chief Martin Flatley said the Tesla caught fire in the collision and burned for two hours.