Amtrak Horror: Colorado Husband, Wife, 3 Daughters Perish in Crash on Way to Church
A Colorado couple and three of their four daughters, all 6 years old and younger, died after their family vehicle was struck by an Amtrak train while on their way to church Sunday. Their second oldest daughter, who is 4, was the lone survivor.
"We were at church and when they didn't show up for church, we were worried about what was going on," Keith Schlabach, a cousin of Christina Miller, 32, the mother who perished with her daughters, told The Denver Post Monday morning. "We thought they were broken down or something. One of the other guys was driving back from church toward Steve's house to see what happened, and then he got to the tracks."
Colorado State Patrol identified the family on Monday. Christina's husband, Stephen, 32, was behind the wheel of the family's 2005 Chrysler Town & Country minivan while his wife was in the passenger seat. A GoFundMe page seeking to fund the family members' funeral identified the deceased children as Abigail, 6, Kathryn, 2, and Ellianna who is just 8 months old. Heidi, 4, who was seriously hurt, was reported to be in stable condition Monday.
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The crash occurred about 3 miles north of Trinidad, Colorado.
Investigators cited by The Denver Post say the minivan was northbound on Las Animas County Road 32 when it failed to yield right of way to the Los Angeles-bound Amtrak. The front of the train collided with the right side of the Chrysler.
Pastor Alvin Yoder who leads the small congregation of about seven families in Trinidad at the church where the Millers worshiped said they got concerned when they didn't show up on Sunday.
"Our youngest son said something is wrong," Yoder told local news station KRDO.
He said one of Yoder's sons who works with Steve Miller called the dad several times but there was no answer. Yoder's son then drove the route the family took to church and quickly realized the horror on the train tracks.
"Immediately, fear gripped him and he was afraid it might have been them," Yoder said. "They said it was a silver van with a family of girls so that pretty much well told us."
Yoder, who said the couple had been living in Trinidad for about five years, described the Millers as honest and hardworking.
"They were a very, very, well behaved family. These girls were amazing," Yoder said. "Steve was a man, you hardly ever found him down and that's going to be missed in this community. We are a small church and it's going to leave a big hole in our church. We're going to miss them very very much."
He a that they loved the Lord and maintained that despite what happened to the family, God is in control.
"They love the Lord. They had a tremendous testimony," said Yoder. "We believe that God is sovereign and he does all Things well and he does not make any mistakes. …I do believe they are in glory with our Lord because of their commitment to the Lord and their acceptance of him that they live for."
He said Heidi is in stable condition in at Denver Children's Hospital recovering from some broken bones.
"She is doing fairly well but she does have a long way to go. She has broken bones in her left arm, her leg is broken and she has some other fractures," Yoder said.
Authorities told The Denver Post that the crossing where the crash occurred does not have gates or warning lights and is marked by just four crossbuck signs.
The family's Chrysler was pushed westbound on the railroad tracks till the train came to a stop after the initial impact. No one aboard the train was injured.
