Train kills 19-year-old friends as they retrieve car part from crash, Oregon cops say

A decision to hop a fence to retrieve a car part flung onto railroad tracks after a crash cost two young men their lives, Oregon police reported.

Kaleb Banzer, 19, of Boring, and Brayden Fear, 19, of Hillsboro, died Saturday, Nov. 4, after being hit by a MAX light-rail train along Interstate 84 in Hillsboro, Portland police said in a news release.

The two men had been involved in a solo crash on the freeway, police said.

They then climbed a barrier into restricted Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon property to recover a car part when a train hit and killed them, police said.

Officers responded to the fatal crash at 9:39 p.m., police said. The investigation closed part of the highway and disrupted light-rail train schedules.

“A very difficult situation for a lot of people. A lot of trauma, very graphic from what I’ve been told, a very challenging scene to manage,” interim Police Chief Bob Day told KATU.

Jody Golston, Fear’s aunt, told KPTV the two young men were best friends who had recently reconnected.

“Literally were inseparable, and they were living their best lives at 19,” Golston said. Fear had recently purchased his “dream car” while working as a car detailer, she said.

Hillsboro is 20 miles west of downtown Portland.

This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Train kills 19-year-old friends as they retrieve car part from crash, Oregon cops say."