Family members mourn two teens killed by LRT

Family members of two teenagers who lost their lives on an Edmonton LRT track are struggling to come to terms with their deaths. Family members have identified the two victims as Jamie Kootenay and Delia Papastesis, both 19. Family members say the pair had been dating for two years.

The accident happened on Tuesday night around 8:15pm. Investigators say a group of six young adults including Kootenay and Papastesis was walking east of a marked LRT crossing at 82 Street and 113 Avenue, when a northbound LRT train struck Kootenay and Papastesis, who had reportedly stopped on the tracks. Kootenay was pronounced dead on scene. Papastesis was transported to hospital where she passed away.

Kootenay's aunt and grandmother, visibly shaken, visited the scene on Wednesday morning.

"He was a good kid," his aunt said, adding that his family can't figure out what he would have been doing near the trains. "What was he doing on the tracks? He's not like that, that's dangerous!"

Kootenay's grandmother says her grandson had big plans for his future.

"He said 'I'm going to go to Army Grandma' and I said no, simply because people going to army seem to come home in a bodybag, and I didn't want to see that."

The family of Delia Papastesis is struggling as well. Some of her relatives visited the scene on Wednesday afternoon to lay flowers at the site.

"This is really hard to deal with." Papastesis's older sister Janice Randhile said. "Their lives were right there to follow, and their futures, and now they're gone. They're never going to see that."

Randhile says she saw the couple just hours before the accident.

"They seemed really, really happy, so when I got the call yesterday from my brother that she died, I just couldn't believe it."

Kootenay's family says they were notified about his death by police, but not before they made the devastating discovery on their own.

"We found it on Facebook." Kootenay's grandmother said through tears. "I'm so upset that that Facebook crap is how we had to find out. It's so hard."

Jennifer Lake, Delia Papastesis's sister said the discovery was equally heartbreaking for her.

"I found out this morning when my sister sent me a text message. I didn't believe it, until I watched the news this morning." Lake said on Wednesday, "I seen them trying to pull my little sister out. And it hurts, knowing that she got hit by a train."

The Edmonton police homicide section has been called to investigate whether the deaths were accidental or criminal. An autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567, or Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 or online.