Public Safety · Eloy, AZ
Mother of 8 Killed by Train at Eloy Railroad Crossing During Morning Run
Thelma Candelaria, 47, a mother of eight and caregiver, was struck and killed by a train around 6 a.m. Thursday while on a routine run in Eloy, Arizona. According to her daughter and surveillance footage reviewed afterward, Candelaria stopped at a railroad crossing to record one train on social media when a second train approached from the opposite direction on another track; she did not see it because noise-canceling headphones muffled the sound. Eloy Police say both trains sounded their horns and the striking train applied its emergency brake but could not stop in time. Candelaria was pronounced dead at the scene, and the Eloy Police Department's Vehicular Crimes Unit is investigating. The family has set up a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs and support her children.