Investigation into railcar deaths moved to Des Moines

The investigation of into the death of several people found in a rail car in Denison has moved to Des Moines. The people are believed to be Mexicans who may’ve been helped by someone or made their own way into the car to get to the U-S. State Department of Criminal Investigation spokesman, Sergeant Rob Hansen, talked with reporters near a rail siding in Des Moines where agents are removing the bodies from the grain car. He says the bodies need to be removed so the state medical examiner can run tests to try and determine their age, sex and cause of death. Hansen says agents have had to cut open the grain car to get at the bodies. He says they’re creating a larger opening to be able to remove each individual. Hansen says the investigation in the car has not yielded any more information on the age or number of people inside. He says the amount of time they’ve been in the car has made it hard to determine these things without help from the state medical examiner, Dr. Julia Gooden. Hansen says there was a ladder inside the car leading to the hatch out.He says there’s no indication of any trauma and he says they’ll be trying to figure out why the people could not open the hatch to get out. He says there’s been no visible signs to indicate foul play. There’s no damage to the bones or bone structures or other indications of trauma. Hansen says the medical examiner may have some results late this afternoon.