Boy reported missing in Needles found dead on railroad tracks in northwest Arizona

KINGMAN, Ariz. — An 8-year-old boy reported missing in Needles, Calif., has been found dead after authorities said he hopped a freight train then was struck and killed on railroad tracks in northwest Arizona.

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona said BNSF railroad personnel reported a child had been hit at 10:16 a.m. Saturday on tracks in the community of Yucca, Ariz., roughly 30 miles east of Needles.

Kaden Lanphear was pronounced dead in Yucca, Mohave sheriff’s office spokeswoman Trish Carter said Monday.

Train traffic near Interstate 40 at milepost 23 — about 24 miles down the interstate from Kingman and two hours south of Las Vegas — was halted for five hours after the body was found, a Mohave County sheriff’s news release said.

Lanphear, whom authorities described as autistic, was reported missing just over an hour earlier to the San Bernadino’s sheriff’s office in California. A widespread search was initiated after his father reported him missing from their Needles home at 8:25 a.m. Saturday.

The boy’s father told investigators he last saw his son about 7 a.m. that day, San Bernadino sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said Monday. The father drifted back to sleep and when he woke up, the boy was gone.

How Kaden got from his home to the train is unknown.

The San Bernardino County sheriff’s office reported that evidence suggests the boy boarded an eastbound train near his home and got off in Yucca, where he was struck by a westbound train. Cause of death will be determined by the Mohave County medical examiner.

BNSF workers did not know the boy was on board, the Mohave County sheriff’s office said.

Contact Kimberly De La Cruz at kdelacruz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @KimberlyinLV.