FBI offers $300K reward 20 years after Arizona train derails

The FBI will announce a reward Friday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the derailment of an Amtrak passenger train in 1995, according to a press release.

"The Sunset Limited" train derailed Oct. 9, 1995 in the early morning hours in a remote desert about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, according to the release.

The incident resulted in the death of one Amtrak employee and the serious injury of 12 others, in addition to minor injuries to about 100 others out of the 258 passengers on board, according to the FBI.

The crash was the result of apparently sabotaged tracks, 19 feet of rail were ripped loose and 29 spikes were pulled out and plates that connect the rails to the railroad ties were removed, a source close to the investigation initially told reporters.

The same source said that it looked as if someone familiar with the tracks sabotaged the train because a communication line that would have signaled a break in the tracks was rigged to disguise the break.

The train, headed from Miami to Los Angeles, plunged off a railroad bridge and fell 30 feet into a dry wash.The first eight cars behind the locomotive derailed and four plunged into the wash, including a baggage car, a dormitory car, two sleepers, a diner, lounge and two coaches.

The four remaining cars, at the end of the train, did not derail.

The train had 20 crew members and 248 passengers.

Representatives from the FBI, Amtrak Police Department, Maricopa County Attorney's Office and United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona will be present to announce the reward of up to $310,000 Friday at 9:00 a.m. to be paid collectively by multiple entities, according to the release.

The announcement will take place at the FBI Phoenix field office.