September 19, 2007 Edition

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WR woman dies when hit by train

Tommy Allen of the Hoxie Police Department said a Walnut Ridge woman was killed instantly Sunday night when she walked in front of a northbound Union Pacific train.

According to witnesses, the woman, later identified as Mary Smith, 44, of Walnut Ridge, ran from the woods, stood on the tracks and was struck by the train.

The incident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Hickory Street Crossing in Hoxie and was witnessed by two crewmen on the train and two teenagers in a car waiting to cross the tracks.

The body could not be identified and was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab. Investigators discovered her identity when they found her car and cellular phone near the crossing.

Smith was an employee at Walnut Ridge Nursing and Rehab and had not shown up for work on Monday. Allen said a suicide note was also found at her apartment in Walnut Ridge.

Funeral arrangements will be under the direction of McNabb Funeral Home of Pocahontas.

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