Hempstead County Sheriff James Singleton Updates Body Found at Tyson Feed Mill

FULTON – Hempstead County Sheriff’s Deputies were sent to the Tyson Feed Mill in rural Hempstead County near Fulton on Highway 195 this morning, (Monday, October 16th) at approximately 4:20 am, in reference to a possible body located in one of the rail cars.

Upon arrival, Deputies were advised by employees of the feed mill that during the unloading process of one of the rail cars, they discovered what they believed to be the arm of a human body in the unloading chute underneath the car.

Deputies opened the top of the grain car and discovered the body was wedged in the bottom of the empty car. Deputies worked to retrieve the body through the bottom of the car but were unable to do so. Red River Wrecker Service was called to assist deputies with gaining access through the top of the grain car by lowering a cable down through the car and moving a piece of metal where the deputies could remove the body from the bottom of the car. Once the deputies successfully retrieved the badly decomposed body of an adult male, the Hempstead County Coroner officially pronounced the male dead. The body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for identification and manner and cause of death.

According to railroad officials, the 100-car train dropped off soybeans in Mexico and then proceeded empty to Missouri and was loaded with corn on October 14th. The train was then sent to Hope, where the Kiamichi Railroad transported the train to the feed mill for unloading.

Several agencies, including the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division, Special Agents from Company C in Hope, Union Pacific Railroad Police, and the Hempstead County Coroner, were dispatched to assist in the investigation, which is ongoing.