Husband, wife killed by train in Durham

The accident happened at 3457 Hillsborough Road shortly before 10 a.m. Police said Derek Lowe, 38, and his wife, Tina Lowe, 33, were on the tracks when they were struck. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators said it appears one person was sitting on the tracks and the other was trying to pull that person to safety.

A spokesperson with Amtrak said the Carolinian left Charlotte at 7 a.m., headed toward New York City. It was on its way to Raleigh when the accident occurred.

No injuries were reported on the train, which was carrying 166 passengers. However, medical help was called for a man on the train who complained of chest pains related to a stab wound he had received last week, police said.

The couple had fallen on hard times, said Penny Cobb, the mother of Derek Lowe's 14-year-old son.

"They came here one night and got dropped off a few days ago, about five, six days ago," she said. "They didn't have anywhere to go. I let them stay the night."

Cobb described Tina Lowe as sweet and intelligent and Derek Lowe as a musician who wrote a song called "Seven Miles High" when she was pregnant with their son.

"Derek was such a good man," she said. "He really was down deep. He was just so lost."

Holding back tears, Cobb said she now wishes she had done more.

"I almost wished I would've kept them here instead of letting them leave the other day because maybe I could've done something different," she said.