Man Found Dead In Niles Canyon Identified

FREMONT, CA — A man whose body was found along railroads tracks in Niles Canyon just outside of Fremont on Sunday afternoon was identified by the sheriff's office today as 26-year-old Max Lopez Balmes of Fremont.

Lopez Balmes' body was discovered near the Union Pacific tracks in the canyon south of state Highway 84 and Alameda Creek at about 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

A hiker or jogger saw his body west of the intersection of Highway 84 and Palomares Road a few miles east of Fremont city limits and called police, according to Kelly.

Although authorities haven't yet disclosed the cause of Lopez Balmes' death, Kelly said the sheriff's office is investigating his death as a homicide because he died "at the hands of another" and not from being hit by a train or from falling.

Investigators haven't disclosed a motive for the killing or any suspect information.

According to an obituary that's posted online, Lopez Balmes was born in Mexico and is survived by his parents Elias Lopez Zulayka and Maileht Balmes Sanchez and his brothers Kevin, Elias, Daniel and Abraham.

A service for Lopez Balmes will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Fremont Chapel of the Roses at 1940 Peralta Blvd. in Fremont and he will be buried at the Chapel of the Chimes Memorial Park at 32992 Mission Blvd. in Hayward.

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— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock