Metro crash victim had Culpeper ties

A victim of Monday’s deadly Metro train crash in Washington, D.C., lived eight years in Culpeper before moving into the district two years ago to attend nursing school.

Veronica Dubose, 29, was among nine killed when two trains collided on the Red Line north of Fort Totten. The accident was the worst in the transit authority’s history.

“We have a very small family, and she just never wanted to live in D.C.,” said Dubose’s cousin, Latisha Clanagan of Culpeper. “She loved the quiet country life. It was so tragic.”

Dubose, who graduated from high school in D.C. in 1998, moved to Culpeper that year with Clanagan. Dubose worked at Culpeper Health Care Center and the Country Cookin’ restaurant.

She was the mother of an 8-year-old boy and an 18-month-old girl.

Clanagan said Dubose had moved back to Northwest D.C. to attend nursing school a couple of years ago. She was on her way to the first day of class when the accident occurred.

“I was sitting on my porch and I got a phone call from her sister letting me know that she was on the first train,” Clanagan said. “Sitting right behind the conductor’s seat. … My phone has just been flooded with calls from people down here.”

Lacore Harris, who attended Free Union Baptist Church with Dubose, called her friend “a beautiful person … no one was like her.”

Clanagan said Dubose, a certified nursing assistant, planned to move back to Culpeper, then perhaps to Atlanta, after completing school.

“She was just a good-hearted person, a big-hearted person,” Clanagan said. “Went out of her way for anybody.”

A viewing is set for Wednesday at the People’s Congregational United Church of Christ, 4704 13th St. NW, in Washington, from 9 a.m. until noon, followed by the funeral service.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident, which injured about 80 people.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that a train signaling circuit appears to have failed when investigators tested it following the accident. It was not known if the malfunction was a factor. Preliminary reports indicate that a brake problem or failure of the computer system that automatically controls the trains may be to blame.

One train was stalled, while the other was moving.

The operator of the moving train, Jeanice McMillan, also died. Authorities said it appears that McMillan activated the emergency brake, but they added it was not immediately clear if her actions could have prevented the accident or contributed to it.