A man found dead along northern Colorado railroad tracks had been drinking with his friends at the Pepsi Center in Denver the night before and may have hopped a passing freight train after leaving the arena.
Authorities on Friday identified the dead man as Devon Arnold of Centennial, a 22-year-old Colorado State University senior majoring in mechanical engineering.
His body was found alongside the tracks in Keenesburg, about 40 miles from the Pepsi Center.
Margie Martinez, a spokeswoman for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, said a relative identified Arnold.
Arnold disappeared while attending a Nuggets game with Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brothers and other CSU students.
Arnold left his companions a few times during the game, said Wynn Smiley, ATO’s national executive director. The final time, he did not return to his seat.
The CSU students looked for Arnold. When they couldn’t find him after an hour, they called Denver police.
“It is very mysterious and very unlike Devon,” Smiley said, adding that Arnold was a leader at the ATO chapter and on campus. “He was very well-respected and loved within his chapter, and he was very bright.”
Arnold joined the ATO chapter at CSU in 2008. Martinez said she was told that Arnold was “very intoxicated” and was asked to leave the Pepsi Center.
One of the possibilities, said Martinez, is that because of the proximity of nearby railroad yards, Arnold jumped on a train. But, so far, no video or witnesses have been located showing Arnold getting on a passing train.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions,” she added. “We do not know how he got from” Denver to Keenesburg.
According to CSU spokeswoman Dell Rae Moellenberg, Arnold enrolled at CSU in the fall semester of 2006.
“Devon’s death is a tragic event that saddens many in the university community,” CSU said in a statement.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
