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Last updated on Monday, August 6, 2012
(DUGGER) - 47-year-old Jeffrey L. Bedwell, of rural Dugger, died early Sunday morning after he was struck by an Indiana Rail Road Company train in Dugger.
Nick Schneider, of the Greene County Daily World reports, Bedwell, who lived on State Road 159, south of Dugger, was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:08 a.m. Sunday.
Bedwell suffering from multiple injuries, according to Sullivan County Sheriff's Department Deputy Justin Bell.
Bell said a female bartender at the Uptown Tavern, who called in the accident, said Bedwell had earlier left the bar through a rear door and was struck by a passing northbound train.
Deputy Bell said video footage from inside the locomotive shows the train had sounded its horn as normal protocol as it was passing several intersections in town. The conductor noticed the man sitting on the side of the westbound rail with his feet to the outside and went into an emergency stop procedure.
"He was sitting down. His (Bedwell's) head was on his hands like he was sleeping or passed out," the deputy told the Greene County Daily World. "The subject didn't move as the train got closer and the train was not able to stop."
His body was found just yards off the tracks near the tavern, located at Main and Second Street.
Bell said the victim was unresponsive when he arrived. EMS personnel assessed the victim and called the Sullivan County Coroner, who pronounced Bedwell dead at the scene.
The deputy said alcohol was likely a contributing factor in the mishap. Witnesses inside the bar said Bedwell had been inside the tavern and had drank several beers before leaving out a rear door.
The bartender told police that she saw Bedwell near the tracks before the train had arrived. Once the bartender heard the train horn, she went out and saw that Bedwell had been hit by the train. She then called police.
"Obviously, he had been in the bar. He was drinking, no doubt," the deputy stated. "It's a bad deal."
The case remains under investigation.
An autopsy will be conducted today at Regional Hospital in Terre Haute.
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