SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (ABC 4 News) - It is a mystery one Utah family is trying to unravel. A week ago Friday Utah native Charles Peck was killed in the Southern California metro-link collision. But family members kept getting calls from his cell phone, up to five hours after he died. Officials have said Peck died immediately after the crash yet family members say they got about 35 calls throughout the night.
Fiance Andrea Katz was on her way to pick up Peck from the metro station when she heard the news of the collision on the radio. She knew he was on the train but had no idea if he survived the crash. That's when the first call came to Peck's son here in Utah. Katz says, “He said my dad just called me and I said, what did he say? Is he okay? Where is he? He didn't say anything, the phone rang and it said dad.”
They watched, helpless, as rescue crews searched for survivors, sure that Peck was one of them. There were dozens of calls but there was only static and silence. Katz says, “We were yelling in the phone saying you're gonna be ok.”
Rescuers were able to trace one of the calls and looked through the first train one last time, where they found Peck’s body. Family members say the calls helped get them through the night, and helped searchers find Peck's body.
We may never know how those calls were made. Peck's cell phone was never found. Peck's oldest son says his father normally flew right into Los Angeles but the flight he routinely takes was booked. So he got the only flight available to Burbank and was taking the commuter train into Los Angeles when the accident happened.
