Body of missing rail passenger found at Haigler

Monday, September 24, 2012

HAIGLER, Nebraska -- The California man missing from an eastbound Amtrak train since Thursday, Sept. 13 was found dead Friday near Haigler, Nebraska.

The body of 69-year-old Charlie Dowd, of San Mateo, California, was spotted by a railway worker.

The last time family members talked to Dowd was the evening of Thursday, Sept. 13, when the train was in the Denver area. Dowd's luggage, cell phone and medication arrived in Chicago without him on Friday. Family members worried he may have become disoriented without his medication.

Railroad officials and law enforcement officers had focused their searches in eastern Colorado and Southwest Nebraska after a passenger reported having seen Dowd near a door of the train at approximately 10 p.m., Thursday, and another passenger reported an exterior door ajar at approximately 11 p.m., Thursday and reported it to Amtrak staff Friday morning.

Dowd was a retired firefighter, and was en route to Montreal, Canada, with several overnight stops scheduled along the way, including one in McCook.

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