Died 20 June 1971 (date calculated)

Burial in Blair Cemetery

Published in Enterprise on 24 June 1971

TRANSIENT IS KILLED UNDER A C&NW FREIGHT TRAIN SUNDAY

HAD FALLEN BETWEEN CARS AND WAS DRAGGED FOR MANY MILES

A man, as yet not definitely identified, fell to his death under a Chicago Northwestern freight train which was northbound from Omaha to Blair last Sunday afternoon.

His remains were found hanging from the undercarriage of a flat car when the train was stopped just north of the Highway 30 crossing in the city limits of Blair. Authorities and railroad officials theorize that the man had attempted to step between two cars on the train, fell in some manner, and his foot caught in the couplings between cars.

First word of the accident came from City Marshall William Rose of Ft. Calhoun, who notified Blair police that he had been told that a man had been seen hanging beneath the train as it passed through Ft. Calhoun. Blair Patrolman Groves and State Safety Patrolman Kieve immediately headed for the nearest crossing, which happened to be the overhead crossing at the O.P.P.D. plant.

There was no evidence of a man nor a body was seen, but a blue suitcase was observed sitting on one of the flat cars. The officers then proceeded to the Grant Street crossing in Blair, at which place a body was observed hanging below one of the cars. The train was stopped after it had cleared the Highway 30 crossing.

A search of the track between Blair and the North Omaha yards by police, a sheriff's deputy, and railroad officials indicated that the man might first have fallen between the cars as far south as one-half mile north of Nashville.

A Social Security card found in the man's wallet offered the only clue to his identity. The name is being withheld pending positive identification and notification of any known relatives.

The body which had pounded along for many miles under the train, was badly mutilated, all but one leg and the lower parts of the torso were gone and Sheriff's deputies and railroad men have been searching the right of way for missing parts of the body.

Just before press time, the victim was identified as Richard Joel Newton, with no fixed address. He was 43 years old. His mother is, Mrs. Thelma Heglen of Kirkland, Oregon.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~

Find a Grave # 117580740