Fort Collins, Colorado

Sunday, September 5, 2010 | 73°F

Classifieds | Business Center | Spring Break

by Madeline Novey

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The CSU community is encouraged to come together tonight at a candlelight vigil to share stories in celebration of the life of CSU mechanical engineering student Devon Arnold, whose body was found on a set of train tracks east of Denver last Thursday morning.

The memorial service, which starts near the Administration Building on CSU’s Oval at 6:20 p.m. and proceeds to the Lory Student Center East Ballroom at 7 p.m., serves to commemorate the Alpha Tau Omega member’s life and time in the CSU community, fraternity leaders said.

He wasn’t just an engineer; he wasn’t just a student at CSU,” said ATO President Mark Johlgren. “He was an embodiment of someone who is a gentleman, who was involved at CSU.”

The ATO fraternity and Arnold’s roommates will join the CSU community at the memorial to share their memories of the 22-year-old student ATO Executive Director Wynn Smiley described as a “really smart guy, one of those guys who stands out.”

“He was a very popular man,” Johlgren said of Arnold and his connection to those in the university community. The memorial will bring together stories from different walks of life Arnold had a connection with, he said.

Arnold’s family will attend the service, ATO Fraternity Graduate Adviser Emily Ambrose said.

Guest books will be available at the entrance of the ballroom for people to write down their memories. These will later be given to Arnold’s family, Johlgren said.

Arnold’s body was found by a Burlington Northern Railroad engineer on a set of train tracks two miles east of Keenesburg.

Authorities are speculating that Arnold might have gotten onto a train car intoxicated and ridden it to where his body was found, said Margie Martinez, spokesperson for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said. No conclusions have been made, however, because there are no witnesses to his death at this time.

And no toxicology report has been completed, Martinez said, so it is unclear whether Arnold was intoxicated while riding the train.

He was, however, reported drinking and asked to leave the Nuggets game he attended at the Pepsi Center Wednesday night.

Members of the ATO fraternity, who Arnold had attended a Nuggets game with, reported Arnold missing to Denver police Wednesday night.

Weld County Sheriff’s Office is in the process of interviewing these fraternity members, Martinez said.

News Managing Editor Madeline Novey can be reached at news@collegian.com.

To

From

 

Comments

All fields are required. Your email address will not be published.

Name Email Comments

HTML is not allowed.

Verify

Are you posting spam? (Hint: no)

Recent Multimedia