Severed Arm Found by BNSF Railroad Worker in Springfield, MO Rail Yard

February 13th, 2012 |

SPRINGFIELD, MO – On February 10, 2012 in a Springfield, MO rail yard, a railroad worker found the severed arm of a man who was killed in January in a train accident in Montana after stepping in front of a moving train.

On February 10, 2012 in a Springfield, MO rail yard a BNSF railroad worker found the severed arm of a man who was killed in a train accident in Libby, Montana the previous January after stepping in front of a moving train while committing suicide.

Springfield is located in Greene County, Missouri in the southwestern part of the state about 217 miles southwest of St. Louis, 168 miles southwest of Columbia and 166 miles southeast of Kansas City

The arm was found lying next to the tracks by a BNSF railroad worker around 1:00 p.m. on Friday near the 1700 block of the North Kansas Expressway. The police were notified who retrieved the arm and had it taken in for fingerprint analysis.

springfield-mo-railroad-worker-finds-lost-arm-map

Map showing location of a rail yard in Springfield, MO near the 1700 block of the North Kansas Expressway where the severed arm of a man who was killed in Montana in January was found by a BNSF railroad worker on February 10, 2012.

It was discovered that the arm belonged to a suicide victim who died back on Saturday, January 14, 2012 in Libby, Montana after stepping in front of a moving BNSF train. The victim was killed instantly around 11:45 p.m.

An article appearing in the News-Leader.com website reported on the story:

The human arm traveled halfway across the country for nearly a month before finally falling from a train in Springfield on Monday. On Friday, police identified the man who lost the limb. … The arm appears to have been caught in the undercarriage of the train and was not found during the initial investigation of the death.

The severed arm was apparently lodged in the undercarriage of a rail car and must have traveled more than the approximately 1700 miles distance to the southeast between Montana to Missouri because the train was traveling west on its way to Pasco, Washington, which is in a different direction than Springfield, MO.

After 26 days the severed arm must have dislodged and dropped next to the tracks in the Springfield, MO rail yard where is was discovered by the BNSF railroad worker.

Fingerprint analysis identified the arm as belonging to William Escudero, 29 years old, from Libby, MT, the victim from the previous month’s suicide. The fingerprint was identified on Friday, February 10, 2012 by the Missouri Highway Patrol crime lab.

Libby, MT is located in Lincoln County, Montana. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office believed that after the accident where Escudero was killed, his arm must have gotten lodged underneath the rail car that was involved in the incident. It is believed that somehow that car made its way to Missouri where it fell from the rail car and onto on the ground near the tracks.

FELA Lawyer News Blog is a FELA, train accident and personal injury blog that publishes up to date train accidents, train derailments and FELA legal news from across the United States. The Federal Employers ‘Liability Act, (FELA) allows injured railroad workers to recover compensation based on the negligence of the railroad company, in lieu of workers’ compensation. FELA defines negligence as the railroad company’s failure to use reasonable care.