Two dead after car goes over coastal cliff
Car carrying teacher, her mother went off cliff at Bodega Head Trail
PLEASANTON >> A Pleasanton elementary school teacher and her mother were killed Saturday after their car went over a steep coastal cliff in Bodega Bay, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.
It was the second tragedy in two weeks to claim the life of an educator in Alameda County’s Tri-Valley area.
Elizabeth Correia, 41, of Dublin, who taught first grade at Lydiksen Elementary for nine years, and her mother, Maria Teixeira, 64, of Dublin, who worked as lead custodian at Montevideo Elementary in San Ramon, both died in the crash, the sheriff’s office confirmed.
For an unknown reason, the car drove off the cliff at Bodega Head Trail, a scenic overlook along the coast, according to the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District. Both victims were pronounced dead by firefighters and a sheriffs deputy at the crash site.
The crash was reported at 11 a.m. at the West Bodega Head parking lot. According to the California Highway
Patrol, the silver Toyota RAV4 being driven by Teixeira entered the parking lot and continued to drive west without slowing down or stopping, hitting a log barrier at the edge of the cliff.
Even after hitting and moving the barrier, the Toyota continued before plunging over the cliff. Witnesses told the CHP it did not appear that the vehicle was speeding.
The car was taken into evidence and will be checked for any
potential malfunctions. An autopsy will be conducted by the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office to determine whether any medical factors may have contributed to the crash, according to the CHP.
Correia’s family told the Pleasanton Unified School District about her death on Saturday night. Grief counselors will be made available to the school community next Monday; the district is currently on spring break.
Tracie Culpepper, a first grade teacher at Lydiksen, said Correia’s death is a loss to the community. The two had classrooms next door to each other, ate lunch together and began teaching around the same time at the school.
“She was my person, and I was hers. … I don’t know what I’m going to do without her,” she said, her voice breaking. “She gave her heart and soul to be a teacher.”
She described Correia as the most organized, compassionate, dedicated and honest person she knew. Correia was confident and “a natural” when it came to teaching, Culpepper said. She had just returned to the classroom for in-person learning, though she still taught six children online at the same time.
“She loves teaching so much. She was so passionate,” Culpepper said.
Correia had taught in Pleasanton for 16 years, starting in 2005 as a substitute teacher and later as a full-time teacher. She grew up in Pleasanton, where she attended Pleasanton Middle School and Foothill High School.
“Our hearts go out to Elizabeth Correia’s family and our Lydiksen community. Elizabeth touched the lives of many of her students and colleagues,” district spokesman Patrick Gannon said.
Teixeira was an employee of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District since 2000, the district confirmed. Montevideo El