College Student Dies While ‘Train Hopping’ with Boyfriend in Pittsburgh

A college student died on Sunday while hopping between trains with her boyfriend in Pittsburgh, authorities said.

Lindsey Michaels, 21, had been jumping trains with her boyfriend, who has not been identified, around 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning on the South Side of Pittsburgh when she got caught underneath two trains after attempting to jump between them, WTAE reports.

Michaels’ boyfriend suffered an injury to his ankle and was taken to a hospital, police said.

Authorities pronounced Michaels dead at the scene, CBS News reported.

The train company, Norfolk Southern, said they are investigating the incident along with police but claim the train crew “did not see anyone trying to jump on the train and was not aware that anyone might have been hit,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

“The train, moving 130 cars loaded with coal, was traveling at about 3 to 4 mph through this area and then began to pick up speed,” Norfolk Southern spokesman Jon Glass said.

Michaels’ mother told WTAE that her daughter was a “good kid” and her daughter’s boyfriend has been “beside himself” since the tragic incident. She added that she thinks the incident could have been “alcohol-induced.”

Michaels was a junior at Carlow University, where she made the dean’s list. The university released a statement expressing their condolences to Michaels’ family and friends after receiving word of her death Sunday night.

“The Carlow University community extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Carlow junior Lindsey Michaels, who died last night in a tragic accident on the South Side,” the university said in a statement.