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Family wants answers after PSU student found critically injured near Amtrak route

Aaron Salazar was riding an Amtrak train from Colorado back to Portland. He texted his mom saying he was going to explore Sacramento, where the train had a 10-hour layover. But he never made it to Sacramento.

It’s been a week since Aaron Salazar was found battered and unconscious near railroad tracks in Truckee, California, and his family is no closer to understanding what happened to the 22-year-old student who was traveling by rail from Colorado to Oregon.

Was he attacked?

Was he thrown from the train?

Was this a hate crime?

After a week of sitting by Salazar, who lies comatose with a broken pelvis and damage to his brain stem in a Reno hospital critical care unit, his family is still in the dark as to what circumstances left Aaron beside the tracks on May 15 in Truckee, a town his Amtrak train was scheduled to stop in for just a few minutes.

“We don’t know anything,” said Salazar’s cousin, Sonia Trujillo. “We’re not asking for the world, we’re just asking for answers for this family.”

Family members say they can’t get the simplest questions answered from the Amtrak police department, which is handling the investigation. Questions like what time he was found, what portion of the tracks he was lying next to or how long he’d been lying there have all been deflected.

Salazar was partway through a 31-hour train ride from Denver to Portland when his train passed through Truckee. He was traveling back to Portland State University, where he is studying economics, after visiting family, his cousin says.

His great-grandmother was the last to hear from him. Salazar sent her a text saying he’d made a friend on the train and together they were going to explore Sacramento, where the train had a scheduled 10-hour layover.

But Salazar never made it to Sacramento.

Amtrak and its in-house police department will only say that they can’t comment on ongoing investigations, and that “there’s nothing to suggest criminal intent,” according to a statement provided by the company.

Salazar’s relatives are not convinced.

“What I’m concerned about is, we’re dealing with the Amtrak police department on an Amtrak train,” Trujillo said. “I don’t know if they’re trying to protect the train or if they’re trying to protect the people.”

“I’m wondering why there isn’t another police department involved … anybody besides Amtrak, because I feel like they’re protecting Amtrak because it’s their police.”

According to Sgt. Danny Renfrow of the Truckee Police Department, the only time Amtrak police have jurisdiction over an investigation is when a crime is physically committed on an Amtrak train.

Despite where any crime may have taken place, Trujillo and the rest of the family maintain that because Salazar was found in Truckee, local agencies should be able to investigate, too.

In addition to head and brain injuries, Trujillo described bruises lining her cousin’s ribcage and abdomen, a broken pelvis and nose, and unexplained severe burns on the inside of his thighs.

“His injuries are consistent with a beating, in my opinion,” Trujillo said. Doctors have told the family that his injuries correspond with a beating, but they won’t put it in writing because of the ongoing investigation, she said.

His family has also raised the question of whether Salazar’s injuries are the result of a hate crime.

Salazar is gay, Trujillo said. He wasn’t robbed, though he was carrying money, and the severe burns on his inner thighs have led the family to raise questions.

They’re also concerned as to who the “friend” was that Salazar met on the train, and why they wouldn’t have said anything when he suddenly went missing near Truckee.

“It’s very puzzling,” Trujillo said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

In a statement, PSU said the community is "deeply saddened" to hear the news of Salazar's condition.

"We are praying for him and his family during this difficult time. We have reached out to Aaron's family to offer them support," the statement said.

Salazar's family started a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to help with medical expenses.

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