As they were unloading a grain car in Hempstead County, Ark., early Monday morning, employees of a Tyson Feed mill found what they believed was a human arm.
By 4:20 a.m., Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office deputies called to the scene on Highway 195, outside of Fulton, Ark. There, they found a “body part protruding from the bottom of the train car hopper,” said the law enforcement agency.
“Deputies opened the top of the grain car and discovered that a human body was wedged in the bottom of the empty car,” it continued. “Deputies worked to retrieve the body through the bottom of the car but were unable to do so.”
So, Red River Wrecker Service was called in to help. Their crew gained access through the top of the grain car with a cable and were able to move a piece of metal. Then, deputies were able to move the body from the bottom of the car.
They found that the remains, believed to be those of an adult male, were badly decomposed. These remains were pronounced dead by the Hempstead County Coroner and then sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for identification and manner as well as cause of death.
“According to railroad officials the 100-car train dropped off beans in Mexico and then proceeded empty to Missouri and loaded with corn,” on Saturday, said the sheriff’s office. “The train was then sent to Hope, where Kiamichi railroad transported the train to the Tyson feed mill on highway 195 for unloading.”
In addition to the sheriff’s office, several other agencies joined the investigation, including the Arkansas State Police Criminal investigation division Special Agents from Company C in Hope and The Union Pacific Railroad Police. As of Monday, the case was still under investigation.
This isn’t the only case of gruesome human remains discovered in unlikely places this year. In April, the body of a missing 2-year-old boy was found in an alligator’s mouth and over the summer, the body of a man who died around two decades before was found melting in a glacier.