Dead Man On Train… Rickey Jay Van Houter, 52,Falls Asleep And Dies On A Metro Train,…Not Found For 5 Hours!

A man, who appeared to be sleeping on a Metro train, was found to be dead after going undisturbed, and unnoticed riding on the train for at least 5 hours. Apparently, no one wanted to bother him, or were too distracted to notice if the man was breathing or not.

The question is that with all this crack post-911 security on the trains….how could a dead man riding go undetected for 5 hours???[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=dc+metro+security&iid=1182693″ src=”9/7/a/a/DC_Police_Step_a7e5.jpg?adImageId=12937691&imageId=1182693″ width=”234″ height=”158″ /]

Rickey Jay Van Houter, 52, of Rockville died Monday on a Red Line train while on his way to work as a computer programmer for a government contractor. His wife, Ilene, reported that Mr. Van Houter had been up late the night before working on a project, which delayed his morning commute.(SOURCE)

It is not known exactly what time Mr. Van Houter died, but, he boarded the train at the Twinbrook station on the Red Line about 10:15 a.m. Monday, according to preliminary investigation, Metro said. The train went to Silver Spring and then back, ending its run at the Shady Grove station just before noon.(SOURCE)

The train was taken into the rail yard there and parked.

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=dc+metro+security&iid=1869516″ src=”6/4/b/b/Security_Increased_In_3d54.jpg?adImageId=12937698&imageId=1869516″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /]Mr. Van Houter was spotted in the train at 2:55 p.m. as the train was being prepped to leave the yard for afternoon service by a Metro worker.

Metro workers routinely walk through the trains when they get to the end of the line to inspect the interior to see if it is suitable for new riders and in decent shape,but are not required to do so.

DC Metro officials are investigating how Mr. Van Houter  was not noticed for the 5 hours, and to see if all procedures were performed in accordance with Metro regulations.

If he appeared to be sleeping that hard, that early in the day…then maybe they were all just trying to be polite, and not disturb the man?!?…or the may want to review their security and inspection procedures and make them a little more thorough…

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=dc+metro&iid=3938319″ src=”1/8/3/5/Ronald_Reagan_Washington_5228.jpg?adImageId=12937636&imageId=3938319″ width=”234″ height=”311″ /]