3rd Derailment Victim Was Auburn Man Who Loved Amtrak Trains

AUBURN, WA - The third victim in Monday's deadly Amtrak derailment has been identified as an Auburn man whose passion in life was Amtrak trains. Benjamin Gran, 40, was identified Wednesday after two other victims - also train enthusiasts - were identified Tuesday.

Gran loved trains - Amtrak trains in particular - and was "awesomely autistic," his mother, Linda Daniels, told multiple media outlets. Daniels told the Seattle Times it took recovery crews 30 hours to extricate her son's body from the train wreckage.

"He lived, breathed Amtrak," Daniels told KOMO News.

Gran previously worked at Green River Community College in the school's IT department. Gran was also part of a 2013 federal sweep involving child pornography. He served 18 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography.

Daniels has said that her son was tricked by a Dutch man, Robert Mikelsons, an advocate of legalizing adult-child sex. Mikelsons, the Associated Press reported, convinced Gran child molestation was healthy.

Daniels said that her son had turned his life around since the criminal matter.

The two other men who died were identified Tuesday. James "Jim" Hamre, 61, of Puyallup, was seated next to Zack Willhoite, another rail enthusiast and a Pierce Transit employee. The two were friends through train and transit groups. Willhoite was a member of the All Aboard Washington group, Hamre was its vice president.

Photo by Elaine Thompson/Associated Press