Cassady had tried to commit suicide a few times when he was younger, and was unhappy. Once he tried to freeze himself to death, waiting outside in cold temperatures during a car trip, but it took too long, and he got back in the car. Early in 1968, while revisiting Mexico, he was found lying alongside a railroad track, where he had been for a long time. Exposure to harsh weather caused his death, just days short of his 42nd birthday. Nobody knew if he was trying to kill himself or not, this time. A few people who knew him felt that he wanted to die, and had for awhile as he got older, and that Cassady finally got his wish.