Police believe woman hit by train in Garden City commited suicide

About 3 o'clock Friday morning, a young woman was struck and killed by a train in Garden City. At first, some theorized she might have been homeless and sleeping near the tracks. But now police say it appears she laid down to kill herself and she traveled some distance to do so.

By JoAnn Merrigan
Published: October 22, 2009

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Garden City police are telling us a heartbreaking story regarding the death of a woman hit by a train early Friday morning. They say the 24 year old woman rode an Amtrak train from Sarasota, Florida, got off at the Savannah train station and then apparently began walking on the tracks in the darkness. They say she walked for about one and a half miles and then laid down on the tracks to commit suicide.

"We found identification on her and just talked to her roommate in Florida," Sgt. Ben Selph from Garden City police tells us. "Apparently this young woman left a note in Florida saying goodbye and idicating to the roommate where she was leaving her car."

Police don't know why the woman got off the train in Savannah or if Savannah was her final destination. At this point, they don't know if she knew anyone here. They're unclear why she stopped at the particular location on the tracks and say the conductor did not see her in time to stop the train.

"This is very sad to all of us here," Selph told us. "We've been talking about it and what could have been so bad to drive a young person to do something like this."