DETROIT, MI — A Metro Detroit native was among seven people killed in the derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Rachel Jacobs was earlier reported missing, and family members Wednesday evening confirmed that she died in the crash.
Jacobs, 39, was CEO of Philadelphia-based education technology company ApprenNet, and founder of Detroit Nation, an organization of ex-Metro Detroiters who continue supporting the region after moving away.
Her mother, former state Sen. Gilda Jacobs, is head of the Michigan League for Public Policy, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on economic policy.
“The staff and board of the Michigan League for Public Policy send its deepest condolences to President & CEO Gilda Z. Jacobs and her family as they grieve the death of daughter Rachel Jacobs, who was on board the train that derailed Tuesday evening in Philadelphia,” the organization announced in a statement.
“Rachel was loved and cherished by her entire family, her husband, her two-year-old son, friends and co-workers. The Jacobs family is requesting privacy at this time.”
Rachel Jacobs lived in New York with her husband and son, according to the Associated Press.
She was a graduate of Berkley High School, Swarthmore College and Columbia University.
More than 200 people on the train, which was headed from Washington to New York, were reported injured in the crash. MORE