Crews are investigating after a body was found in a train car carrying corn to the Tyson plant in Hempstead County near Fulton.
The Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office says around 4:20 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, workers were unloading the train car when at some point they spotted what appeared to be a human arm in the unloading chute underneath the train car.
Upon arrival, deputies opened the top of the grain car and found a human body wedged in the bottom of the empty car. After being unable to retrieve the body, the Red River Wrecker Service was called to assist. They gained access through the top of the car by lowering a cable through the car and moving a piece of metal out of the way.
The deputies eventually retrieved the “badly composed” body of an adult male and the coroner officially pronounced him dead. The body will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for identification and to determine cause of death.
Railroad officials say the train car dropped off beans in Mexico, proceeded empty to Missouri, loaded with corn, then was sent to Hope. There, Kiamichi railroad transported the train to the Tyson feed mill for unloading.
The case remains under investigation by the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office, The Hempstead County Coroner and the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division.
By Rachael Thomas, Daffney Dawson and Fred Gamble