Sheriff: Formal ID of boy struck by train could take months
YUCCA, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona authorities say it may be months before a formal identification is made of a boy struck and killed by a train.
However, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office says evidence indicates that the boy struck near the community of Yucca was 8-year-old Kaden Lanphear of Needles, California.
He had wandered away from his Southern California desert home Saturday and apparently climbed aboard a freight train and rode it more than 30 miles before getting off and being struck by another train.
The engineer saw the boy on the tracks but could not stop the train before hitting the boy.
The Sheriff's Office said Tuesday the county Medical Examiner determined that the boy died of blunt force trauma but said formal identification could take months.