Posted on 07/15/2004 8:26:56 PM PDT by kristinn
While investigators continue to be tight-lipped regarding the investigation into the death of an Argonia teen, news of the death and circumstances surrounding it are reaching far and wide.
Jacob "Jake" Allen, 19, was found dead during the early morning hours of July 5 after being struck by a Burlington Northern-Santa Fe train on Bluff Road near Milan.
News reports from Kansas City to Houston, Texas, are reporting details about the death.
Investigators have steadfastly refused comment on any of the details that the Associated Press reported last week it had confirmed. But it is the Internet that has fueled much of the skeptical speculation surround the death of Allen. A search of the Internet shows dozens of postings related to Allen's death.
Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey said this morning that there was nothing new to report on the case.
Kansascitychannel.com reports a BNSF crew told investigators they thought the object lying on the railroad tracks looked like a traffic cone someone had thrown onto the line. The members of the train crew asked each other, "What is that?"
The Web site reports that they certainly didn't think it was a human being. It was the sound of the impact. It didn't sound like it came from a traffic cone. The train screeched to a stop. Its crew searched the tracks.
The most vocal postings regarding Allen's death were found at freerepublic.com, a Web site dedicated to news and activism. Those sharing information at the site are known as "freepers."
"What a sick, sick, sad world," one person writes after learning of Allen's death.
"What a nightmare. And almost certainly, in a small town place like that, it will turn out to be a person or persons the victim knew well," a mother writes.
The Web site reports BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg saying: "I grew up in rural America. You still tend to think of it as a place where there are still solid values and people look out for one another and care for one another -- and this flies in the face of that, this shocks that sentiment."
"God bless this poor boy's family!" another writes. "I can't imagine what the parents are going through."
"And God bless the locomotive crew," one message reads. "There wasn't a thing in the world they could do to stop the tragedy, but they will still have to live with it."
It was a train crew that found what is being reported as "the nude body of Allen, lying more than 10 feet from the tracks. His black sweatshirt and red sweat pants were found further down the line."
The 19-year-old -- who in May graduated as Argonia High School's valedictorian -- had apparently been tied with baling wire to the tracks, some news sources report.
Some of the details of that night were first reported by the Mid-America News Network, based on an unnamed source at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The Associated Press says it has since confirmed those details and pieced the rest of the story together through various railroad and law enforcement sources connected with the case.
Allen's family has declined comment.
Eleven postings at the free.republic site simply say, in reference to Allen's death: "I'm speechless."
Many "freepers" postings speculate as to the other possible causes, conspiracies or motives in Allen's death. Others talk about a case in Arkansas in 1987 when two teens accidentally witnessed a drug transaction and were killed in a similar manor as Allen.
Could have been one of those 'what are they saying online?' kind of articles
An atrocity was committed against this boy...May God be with those who loved him and guide those who search for the perpetrator(s).
The reporter must be a Freeper. I mentioned the Arkansas killings, after another poster said the same thing. What a horrible way to die.
Seems to me we ought to sue the bejesus out of anyone who prints origional information off this site. Turnabout is fair play ya know...
a Web site dedicated to news and activismHey, wait a minute! I thought this was "a reactionary right wing noise machine." ;')
Funny! My mother used to be the editor of the WDN, but then they were bought out by a company and fired everyone on staff. They now have college age kids working there. Some even high school. But it is a small town paper that has kids trying to make a daily paper. If you ask me, if you want to get any info on this that is credible, check the Wichita Eagle.
Community journalism serves its purpose. Still, I agree..check the Eagle. They are supposed to release new info ASAP.
"Mostly, I'm surprised that the reference to FR was not negative, but actually makes us look good."
I don't know--when you have Linda Ronstadt saying that a Republican or a Christian in her audience ruins the concert for her, those "God Bless" benedictions are certainly seen as self-indictments by many.
Thanks...I remember that and the Mena Reg. Airport Cocaine ring, Klintoons' drugdealer partners/friends ...and Slick Willie/Bubba is still on the loose. :((
Although I'm glad to see a news article that doesn't put FR on a negative light for a change, that is the laziest journalism I've seen in a while. Just grabbing quotes off a message board instead of interviewing people on the street. Granted, though, it's extremely difficult to get a proper quote out of a "man on the street"...
..on a lighter note, Invasion of the Bodysnathcers, the FR Edition. :/
..I don't think any insult and/or injury was intended...sorry, if that was was inferred. :((
I'm sure that by now every angle has probably already been done on this story, so the writer decided to go with a "what are they saying on-line?" article. In such a small town this would be a huge story, something everyone was still talking about. So, naturally it would still be making headlines in the local paper too, and there's only so much that can be said without getting redundant. It looks to me like the author wasn't lazy at all, but came up with an original angle then got on-line and did some research.
In a way, I think it might be somewhat comforting for the family of this young man to read that people all across the nation know and care about what happened and that we are grieving with them and keeping them in our prayers.
I don't want to flame anyone, but I am distressed by some of the critiques I've seen of the article on this thread. The writer was quite generous to us, not only casting FR in a good light but pretty much shining a spotlight on us. There's a good chance that the author of this article, residents of that town, and family members of the victim could show up to peruse this thread. (We've already got one who has, and we've succeeded in upsetting him/her.) I just don't think it's a good idea for us to nitpick or behave pettily when there's such a high possibility that people who've been personally affected by this terrible tragedy could be visiting us here.
I posted on this tread when it first came up.
I don't understand why any news organization would write an article about it.
This site is a cyber equivalent of a group of like minded, well informed, strongly opinionated people discussing a current event around a water cooler.
By and large it does cast freepers in a favorable light but the article is worthless. It does not contribute one bit of illumination to the tragic and bizzare death of this young man.
The outrageous, the unusual, the bizarre will always be the topic for conversation, always has been, always will be.
07/23/04Deputies dispell some Allen rumors
WELLINGTON -- Investigators have shed new light on details surrounding the death of Jacob Allen."Many times it has been reported that he was nude," said Jeff Hawkins, chief detective in the case. "That is absolutely, positively, wrong."
Hawkins said these reports have been "a sore spot" in the investigation for him as well as Allen's family.
Refuting other media reports, investigators have not deemed the death a suicide.
"Absolutely, officially, there has been no determination as to the manner of this young man's death," said Hawkins.
Also announced: toxicology reports indicate Allen was not intoxicated and had no drugs in his system.
Allen's death was in the early morning hours of July 5 near the railroad crossing on Bluff Road, near Milan.
http://www.wgtndailynews.com/articles/2004/07/23/news/news1.txt
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