Amtrak Chief of Police Neil Trugman said Tuesday at a press conference that his department's investigation is indicating that 22-year-old Aaron Salazar attempted suicide by jumping from his moving train as it entered Truckee, California.
 
Salazar's family fiercely disagrees.
 
The Portland State University economics student was traveling on Amtrak's California Zephyr from Colorado to Oregon on 15 May 2018 but never made it to his destination.
 
His family believes Salazar, a gay man, was attacked, the victim of a hate crime.
 
But Amtrak police say nothing to suggest that has been found.
 
Salazar was found critically injured 3 to 4 feet from the tracks about four miles east of Truckee.
 
His injuries include a damaged brain stem, broken pelvis, and severe burns to the inside of his thighs.
 
Trugman told the Reno Gazette Journal Tuesday that investigators have interviewed "nearly every passenger on that train," and several of them described Salazar as apparently "having life issues."
 
"He was distraught, he was dealing with some issues. I'm not going to get into details exactly of what they were, but he was dealing with some life issues," Trugman said.
 
Salazar's cousin, Sonia Trujillo, had told the Reno Gazette Journal that Salazar was happy and was communicating with his grandmother less than an hour before he disappeared from the train.
 
A "Friend"
 
Police have also located a young man they identified as the friend Salazar said he had made en route.
 
Salazar sent a text message to his grandmother saying he'd met a friend and they were going to explore Sacramento during a scheduled layover.
 
That message was time stamped 09:06, roughly a half hour before Salazar's train was scheduled to arrive in Truckee.
 
Trugman said that passengers on the upper level of Salazar's car, right above where a window was found open, heard no sound of an altercation or struggle.
 
Trugman said that Salazar and the other passenger met in a lounge car, but were ticketed in separate passenger cars.
 
The passenger told police that he and Salazar only spoke briefly, but made plans to have dinner in Sacramento.
 
The two then parted and went back to their respective ticketed areas of the train.
 
The passenger, according to Trugman, never saw Salazar again.
 
Trugman said that passenger also described Salazar as anxious and seeming to have life issues.
 
Family members point to severe burns in the insides of Salazar's thighs, and bruising on his abdomen, injuries that they say correspond with a beating.
 
Trugman said those injuries, particularly the burns, could be attributed to a fall from a moving train.
 
"I think we have an explanation for that, but I don't want to disclose that right now," he said.
 
Piecing Together a Timeline
 
Trugman also described the timeline of events that led to Salazar being found, a key question that family members say they haven't had answered yet:

• About 08:36 - the California Zephyr leaves the Reno station, according to Amtrak timetables;
   
  
• 09:06 - Salazar text messages his grandmother that he and a friend are going to explore Sacramento, according to family members;
   
  
• 09:27 - A Union Pacific Railroad foreman adjacent to the tracks saw the train pass with an open window on one of its coaches, but did not inform Amtrak at that time;
   
  
• 09:30 - Salazar's train arrives at the Truckee Amtrak station;
   
  
• About 11:10 - A Union Pacific work train found Salazar roughly 3-4 feet from the tracks 4 miles east of town;
   
  
• About 11:30 - Truckee Police respond to a call of an injured man lying near the tracks, according to a Truckee Police Department press release;
   
  
• 13:20 - Amtrak Police are notified that a passenger was found critically injured next to the tracks;
   
  
• 13:25 - Salazar's train arrives in Sacramento.

Truckee Police Department Chief of Police Robert Leftwich described the segment of track Salazar was found along as infrequently traveled.
 
"There are no pedestrian access points, there's no vehicle access points, it's not easily walked to, or driven to. You have to be there with purpose," Leftwich said.
 
At that point on the tracks, the train would have been going roughly 40 mph, according to Trugman.
 
Salazar's family have repeatedly questioned if police are protecting the national rail carrier.
 
"We're at the point where Amtrak is investigating an incident on an Amtrak train with an Amtrak passenger. We need to get somebody else involved, this is a huge conflict of interest," Trujillo told the RGJ in a phone interview minutes before Tuesday's press conference.
 
Amtrak says the FBI is being kept informed of the case, but since there appears to have been no federal crime committed, they have not been formally involved.
 
Salazar is Recovering
 
Amtrak Police's investigation remains ongoing.
 
A fresh set of detectives was brought in this week to review the work done by police so far, an Amtrak spokeswoman said.
 
"Unfortunately, Mr. Salazar is unconscious, and we hope that if he does come to, we will be able to interview him. But we have to rely on the witnesses that we have, that we can locate onboard that train that can provide us with what they've heard, what they've seen, and what they know about Mr. Salazar. And right now, all indication is that he was very anxious, and he was very troubled about what was going on in his life," Trugman said.
 
Salazar has made positive progress toward recovery, Trujillo said.
 
On Friday, doctors removed a respirator and Salazar was breathing on his own.
 
The day before he had attempted to squeeze his mother's hand and open his eyes.
 
Salazar's family has expressed frustration and suspicion into how Amtrak Police, which has jurisdiction over any crime committed on the company's property, has handled the investigation.
 
Trugman said he visited Salazar's parents, who are still in Reno as their son recovers, but they refused to speak to him.
 
"They're not speaking with anybody right now, we just don't know what's going on," Trujillo said, adding that Salazar's parents haven't left his bedside.
 
Trujillo said the family is still waiting for many of their questions to be answered.
 
"Were still waiting for a phone call from him, from Trugman. He was supposed to answer a lot of questions and we're still waiting on him," she said.
 
Salazar's cousin Austin Sailas told the RGJ last week that the family had sought legal advice from an attorney.
 
Sam Gross.