A US trader who flew into Britain for a job interview jumped onto the roof of a train and to his death after he failed to get a job, an inquest heard.
Josh Sanchez-Maldonado, 24, was seen walking along the roof of the train in West London but was hit by a bridge and flung onto an embankment.
The trader from California was only found a week later after a caretaker at Edward Pauling primary school, which backed onto railway tracks, spotted him in the undergrowth near Feltham station.
He had flown into the UK from Puerto Rica where he was holiday for the interview on October 21 last year.
He had been due to fly back the next day but instead disappointed he did not get the job left his hotel in Feltham in west London shortly after midday.
He climbed on top of a footbridge over railway tracks before jumping on to the speeding train and was then seen walking on top of the train carriages.
But no-one then saw him being knocked off by a footbridge at up to 70mph suffering fatal injuries, West London Coroner’s Court heard today (Mon).
Mr Sanchez-Maldonado had been receiving therapy at home following the break-up of a long-term relationship six months before, the inquest heard.
He had gone travelling and had applied for jobs, landing an interview in London
Giving evidence his father Jose Sanchez said: “Josh was more than a son to me. Josh was my best friend.
“Josh was a person who cared a lot about family, about his friends, and he helped a lot of people.
“And that was witnessed by when we buried him. There was a lot of people attending, friends, families, teachers.
“He was such a loveable person and he always had some goals in mind. He always had a plan, and a contingency plan in case that one didn’t work.
“He worked hard at school. He woke up very early every day, because he was interested in the stock market. He was interested in the UK stock market.”
His son had also been studying for an MBA online, he added.
Mr Sanchez said: “He wanted to continue to develop his intelligence in the market and just realising himself as a professional and in life.”
But the break-up of his relationship had affected him deeply, and he had rung a suicide helpline, which led him to get therapy.
Mr Sanchez said the therapy seemed to be working, and his son had started to focus “more on his goals”.
Mr Sanchez-Maldonado decided to go travelling, and flew out to Puerto Rica in September.
Coroner Chinyere Inyama said: “During the course of his travels he applied for a job which fell through.
“That can be very disappointing. It would be normal if he expressed disappointment.”
Mr Sanchez replied: “He wasn’t crying or anything, he was just disappointed.”
He said his son was “very methodical”, and didn’t do things “on impulse”.
Mr Sanchez added: “I just miss him so much.”
DC Gerry Griffin, from the British Transport Police’s fatality investigation team, said CCTV footage captured Mr Sanchez-Maldonado as he jumped on to the train.
He said: “There was a witness who phoned in afterwards and she actually saw Josh on top of the train.
“Where the school caretaker could see the body, there is another footbridge that goes from the school.
“What we believe is Josh has come into contact with the bridge, and the bridge has knocked him off.
He landed on to the embankment, but did not go under the train, he added.
Mr Griffin said: “From the CCTV, it appears to be a deliberate act. It was extremely dangerous.
“The train would have been going 60 to 70mph when he was thrown off. That would have caused major injuries to Josh when he came off the top of the train.
“He landed on the railway embankment. His body was not discovered for a week.”
A post-mortem later found he had died from head and chest injuries.
Coroner Inyama recorded a verdict of suicide.
Summing up, he said: “There is no evidence of a third party involvement.
“I need to decide whether I can be sure whether it was with the intention to end his life.
“More importantly, in terms of states of mind, the evidence I have is until he left the country to go travelling, Josh was receiving treatment from a psychotherapist regarding the loss of a relationship.
“So there had been a time frankly, shortly before his death, he was feeling so down he actually mentioned suicidal ideas so I think it is probable he intended to end his life.
“Jumping on to a speeding train is almost certainly going to end up with some very serious harm and there can be no other serious explanation other than Josh intended to do some serious harm.
“I am going to call that Josh Michael Sanchez- Maldonado died from suicide.”
