Public memorial planned for model fatally struck by train

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Wednesday, January 21, 2015
George Gregory Plitt Jr. poses for a photo.
George Gregory Plitt Jr. poses for a photo.
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BURBANK, Calif. (KGO) -- The family of actor and fitness model Greg Plitt, who was killed when hit by a train, is planning a public memorial in his honor.

The L.A. Times reports the Plitt family is planning a memorial on Saturday in Beverly Hills.

This past weekend, Plitt was hit by a train while shooting a commercial for a nutritional product in Burbank.

Detectives say video taken from the top of the train shows Plitt was running between the rails ahead of the train.

Investigators have ruled out a suicide, and were trying to determine who directed the men to film without a permit in a restricted area of the tracks Saturday afternoon. They have interviewed witnesses who saw Plitt standing on the track even as the train's horn was blaring, Burbank police Sgt. Scott Meadows said.

Metrolink says Plitt didn't have a permit to shoot on the tracks.

Plitt, a native of Baltimore who settled in Los Angeles more than 10 years ago, appeared on more than 200 magazine covers, Bravo's reality television shows "Work Out" and "Friends to Lovers" and NBC's daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives," according to his personal website.

It appears Plitt may have believed the train was on a nearby, parallel track, Burbank police Sgt. Scott Meadows said.

"It's like a blind turn," he said. "When the train came, you might not be able to tell which set the train is on."