Worth county sheriff seeks information on possible train-pedestrian incident

KENSETT – The Worth county sheriff’s office is seeking information on a possible incident involving a Union Pacific train that may have struck a young child.

On April 5, 2018 at about 6:24 PM, the Worth County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the Union Pacific railroad dispatch of a northbound train that had went through Kensett and possibly struck a young child. The U.P. train crew described the child as approximately 4-6 years old wearing a blue coat, red shorts, and croc type shoes.

When agencies arrived on scene, a search of the area was done. First responders and law enforcement on scene were unable to locate anything. An aerial search was also done by Mercy Air Med along the railroad tracks. After getting a better location of the incident from the U.P. train crew, a single set of shoe prints were located in the snow walking up to the tracks and then leaving.

As a result of this incident, the Worth County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to identify the child in this incident. The Worth County Sheriff’s Office is also reminding the public that is against the law to be trespassing under Iowa code section 716.7 on the railroad property.

Agencies assisting the Worth County Sheriff’s Office at the scene were the Iowa State Patrol, Union Pacific railroad police, Kensett Fire/Rescue, Northwood Fire/Rescue, Mason City Ambulance, and Mercy Air Med.

This past December, a train struck a vehicle in Kensett.