March 19, 2024

Osceola teen dies in train incident

A train fatality involving an Osceola teen occurred Monday, June 20.

Jeffrey Shear Jr., 15, stepped in front of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train at Osceola's train depot in the center of town.

Law enforcement received a call about the incident at 12:18 p.m.

Osceola Police Department, Clarke County Sheriff's Office, Osceola Fire Department and ambulance responded to the accident.

There has been speculation the incident was a suicide.

"I've not ruled it that way yet, but that's certainly a possibility. I'm going to wait and hear what the state (medical examiner) has to say," said Osceola Police Chief Marty Duffus.

Shear's autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday, June 22.

'Lock down'

Law enforcement was on the scene until approximately 4:30 p.m. Monday. The intersection of Highway 69 and the train depot was closed or on "lock down" during those afternoon hours for the investigation.

The incident is currently under investigation by the police department and Iowa State Patrol.
Duffus said it appears Shear walked in front of the BNSF train. There were also items left at the scene that law enforcement gathered for the investigation.

Grief counseling

Shear was a student at Clarke Community School District. Grief counseling was made available at Clarke Community Middle School Monday evening and Tuesday from 9 a.m. until noon.

Duffus said he wanted to commend the school district for being proactive with the situation for students and adults.

"Even as early as Monday night when they started offering counseling, there were several people taking advantage of it. I was glad to see that," he said.

According to Duffus, these type of train fatalities don't happen in Osceola as often as they could.

"I wish it never happened, but we do have between 50 and 60 trains a day through here," he said. "Whether it's intentional or accidental, either one, we have a lot of propensity for this to happen. It's not my first one here ... but we approach it everyday that it will never happen again, knowing full well we're probably wrong."