October 7, 2021 – Village of Richfield, WI – On October 6, 2021 at 2:41 p.m., the Washington County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the Canadian National Railroad who reported their train had struck a person.
The person was walking on the tracks east of Scenic Drive between Lakeview Road and Willow Creek Road in the Village of Richfield. Sheriff’s deputies along with the Richfield Fire Department and Rescue were dispatched.
Upon arrival, an adult male was located deceased on the tracks. The initial investigation revealed the train was operating southbound on the tracks when the engineer observed a male walking southbound in-between the rails on railroad property.
The engineer immediately began sounding the horn; however, the person continued to walk southbound on the tracks in the path of the train. This caused the engineer to apply emergency braking procedures while continuing to sound the horn. The person walking on the tracks never reacted and was struck by the train.
The train came to a stop approximately three quarters of a mile down the track. As a result of the incident, the train was stopped for almost seven hours.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has not been able to identify the victim at this point and is seeking the public’s help. The victim is described as a male with salt and pepper colored hair and wearing gold colored, wire framed eyeglasses. He is estimated to be 40 years of age, or older, and has a heavy set build. He was wearing mid-top black Reebok shoes, white tube socks, dark-colored sweat shorts or pants, with a gray shirt. We appreciate any information that the public can provide to us in attempting to identify the victim.
The case remains under investigation by Washington County Sheriff’s investigators, the Washington County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Canadian National Railroad authorities.
If you have information that may be helpful to this investigation please call the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at (262) 335-4378 or email tim.kemps@washcowisco.gov