Teen Killed By Train Was Not On Tracks

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A teenage girl struck and killed by a freight train in southwest Washington was not walking on the tracks when she was hit, according to a Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman.

Mindy Doster was a 17-year-old junior at Mountain View High School in Vancouver. She was struck near Evergreen Highway and 115th Court at about 5 p.m. Thursday.

Gus Melonas, a BNSF spokesman, said Doster was walking on the south side of the tracks near the Columbia River when she was hit by the train overhang.

The westbound train was traveling at a speed of 55 mph, investigators said. A railway spokesman said police found an iPod near Doster’s body.

Doster was the 15th person to be killed by a train in Washington this year.