368:, in which they made allegations against the authorities. According to the film, the two boys had witnessed a drug deal and were murdered by two local police officers. County Prosecutor Dan Harmon is also said to have been involved and later helped the perpetrators with the support of the authorities. Harmon, who had represented the parents of Ives and Henry, was arrested in 1997 on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, and drug possession with intent to distribute and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The two accused police officers denied any involvement in the case and sued Matrisciana and his film company for defamation, whereupon a judge awarded them 600,000 US dollars. However, Matrisciana successfully appealed the verdict, which was overturned in 2001.
202:. The boys did not move, despite the sound and vibration of the approaching train, its emergency brakes, and its air horn. More than 1,000 feet of the decelerating train crossed the point where the bodies lay before it came to a stop. The train's crew reported the incident to railroad and law enforcement authorities. By 4:40 a.m., police arrived on the scene. The boys had reportedly left home about midnight to go
148:. The locomotive engineer engaged the brakes while blowing the horn, but the train could not stop in time and rolled over the bodies. A second autopsy revealed that Don Henry had been stabbed in the back and Kevin Ives' skull may have been crushed prior to being run over.
256:, finally reached an agreement with Steed that he would begin an investigation if the parents stopped criticizing him. However, the subsequent investigation was apparently sabotaged and several witnesses who were to testify before a
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may have been crushed by his own rifle, the ruling was changed to "definite homicide". Don Henry's father also noted that he did not believe his son would have risked his gun getting scratched by laying it on gravel.
230:
offered a second opinion and was skeptical of the findings about marijuana. A second autopsy by
Georgia medical examiner Joseph Burton found the equivalent of one or two marijuana cigarettes, not 20. A
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were found dead. Sheriff Steed is also said to have lied about where he sent the dead boys' clothes for examination. He sent them to the
Arkansas State Crime Lab and not, as intended, to the
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Keith McKaskle was an informant for Dan Harmon and had taken aerial photographs of the crime scene, he was murdered in 1988 two days after
Sheriff Steed lost his re-election
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187:, spotted two boys lying motionless across the tracks, about 300 feet ahead. Members of the locomotive crew also stated that the bodies were partly covered by a green
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Greg
Collins, who was also called to testify before the grand jury and was an acquaintance of Keith Cone, was killed by three shots from a shotgun on January 26, 1989
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The mother of Kevin Ives, Linda Ives, who worked to solve and investigate the case privately until the end of her life, died in
Arkansas in June 2021.
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The FBI took over the case in 1994, but came to no conclusion and the investigation was dropped in 1995, allegedly due to political pressure. The
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ruled the deaths a "probable homicide". When it was found that Don Henry's shirt contained evidence of a stab wound to the back, and Kevin Ives'
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and fell asleep on the tracks. The parents did not accept this finding and conducted their own investigation. In March 1988, James
Garriot of
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The deaths were initially ruled an accident, the result of the boys in a deep sleep on the tracks while incapacitated due to high amounts of
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at the time and was accused to have known about the drug trafficking in his state. The case was profiled on the television program
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Keith Cone was scheduled to testify before the grand jury in the case and died in a motorcycle accident in early
January 1989
618:"Mom of cold case victim dies; Linda Ives sought answers in the deaths of 2 teens for decades | Arkansas Democrat Gazette"
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264:(FBI). Harmon also soon lost the trust of the parents, as he is also said to have prevented the case from being solved.
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James H. Steed Jr. refused to investigate the case. In
February 1988, Dan Harmon, the parents' attorney and Saline
191:, though police disputed the existence of any such tarp and none was ever recovered from the scene. Nearby were a
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freight train, more than a mile long and traveling at a rate more than 50 miles per hour, en route to
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The Boys on the Tracks: Death, Denial, and a Mother's
Crusade to Bring Her Son's Killers to Justice
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The Boys on the Tracks: Death, Denial, and a Mother's
Crusade to Bring Her Son's Killers to Justice
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in 1999, which deals with the case and the alleged involvement of the authorities in the murders.
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206:. The gun and flashlight near the bodies suggested they were using a hunting technique known as
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Jeffrey Edward, whose body was found in a landfill in April 1989, was also linked to the case
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Day, Chris. “Train Deaths Are Officially Homicides.” Arkansas Gazette, March 6, 1988, p. 3B.
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424:"Vigils held at Capitol, courthouse 25 years after Ives, Henry deaths - The Saline Courier"
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Daniel “Boonie” Bearden, was another witness who disappeared without a trace in March 1989
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was likely. Later, another pathologist ruled that Don Henry's shirt showed evidence of a
514:"Judge orders agencies to review more information in 'Boys on the Tracks' FOIA lawsuit"
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In 1996, Linda Ives and film producer Patrick Matrisciana released the documentary
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314:. The theory is that the boys were murdered after witnessing a drug drop from an
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allegedly present in their blood. The parents of the boys insisted on a second
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318:. This drug trafficking was linked to the operations of Barry Seal and the
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About 4:00 a.m. on August 23, 1987, the crew on board a 75-car, 6,000-ton
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The deaths were classified as murder cases, but no arrests were made.
453:"Arkansas mom's motion in bid to unseal files says DEA hiding crimes"
643:"New Witness? Man Claims to Have Seen "Boys on the Tracks" Murders"
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At least five witnesses died or disappeared between 1988 and 1990:
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Cosgrove, John; Gomez, Dan; Scott, Michael M. (1988-10-12),
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Around 4:00am on August 23, 1987, the bodies of 16-year-old
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Despite pressure from the victims' parents, Saline County
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The usual theory given about the boys' deaths involves
553:"The Mysterious Deaths of Don Henry & Kevin Ives"
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United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit
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88:
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58:
39:
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785:The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
729:"Unsolved Mysteries - Episode #2 - TheTVDB.com"
8:
759:Obstruction of Justice: The Mena Connection
144:, United States, as they were lying on the
781:"Video producer wins appeal in libel case"
78:
29:
914:Deaths by stabbing in the United States
894:August 1987 events in the United States
490:"Kevin Ives and Don Henry (Murder of)."
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271:investigation also came to no results.
944:Unsolved murders in the United States
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670:
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484:
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378:List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
919:History of Pulaski County, Arkansas
326:. The 1994 conspiracy-theory movie
924:Incidents of violence against boys
653:from the original on 26 April 2019
598:"ARKANSAS STATE POLICE – ID Files"
25:
929:Child murder in the United States
889:1987 murders in the United States
524:from the original on 16 July 2019
463:from the original on 21 June 2019
18:Death of Don Henry and Kevin Ives
860:Website run by Kevin Ives mother
578:"FBI ARKANSAS BUREAU – ID Files"
739:from the original on 2023-02-24
711:from the original on 2023-02-24
559:from the original on 2019-03-04
262:Federal Bureau of Investigation
1:
934:People from Bryant, Arkansas
909:Deaths by person in Arkansas
939:People murdered in Arkansas
350:. Investigative journalist
960:
904:Death conspiracy theories
677:"The Boys on the Tracks."
853:Encyclopedia of Arkansas
688:Encyclopedia of Arkansas
500:Encyclopedia of Arkansas
27:Murder committed in 1987
512:KATV (13 August 2018).
363:Obstruction of Justice:
884:1987 in rail transport
707:, Unsolved Mysteries,
622:www.arkansasonline.com
329:The Clinton Chronicles
428:www.bentoncourier.com
306:Suspects and theories
269:Arkansas State Police
185:Little Rock, Arkansas
769:– via YouTube.
649:. 14 February 2018.
502:, February 26, 2018.
342:governor of Arkansas
224:marijuana cigarettes
366:The Mena Connection
354:published the book
142:Alexander, Arkansas
119:Alexander, Arkansas
70:Alexander, Arkansas
44:Donald George Henry
682:2021-01-29 at the
495:2019-06-21 at the
488:Berry, Cody Lynn.
459:. 18 August 2018.
395:St. Martin’s Press
347:Unsolved Mysteries
336:of the murders on
163:it was ruled that
54:September 30, 1970
254:County Prosecutor
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312:drug trafficking
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132:and 17-year-old
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848:Find a Grave
839:Find a Grave
815:. Retrieved
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788:. Retrieved
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764:. Retrieved
762:. 2022-06-30
758:
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741:. Retrieved
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713:, retrieved
704:Episode #1.2
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655:. Retrieved
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626:. Retrieved
624:. 2021-06-05
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601:. Retrieved
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436:. Retrieved
432:the original
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393:. New York:
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338:Bill Clinton
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320:Mena Airport
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217:
208:spotlighting
178:
159:, and after
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129:
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113:(1987-08-23)
64:(1987-08-23)
899:1987 crimes
874:1987 deaths
733:thetvdb.com
332:blamed the
324:Polk County
228:San Antonio
193:.22 caliber
868:Categories
844:Kevin Ives
817:2024-07-26
790:2024-07-26
766:2024-07-26
743:2023-02-24
715:2023-02-24
628:2024-07-26
603:2024-07-26
583:2024-07-26
563:2019-05-21
438:2019-05-21
410:References
340:, who was
322:in nearby
258:grand jury
233:grand jury
218:The state
200:flashlight
175:Background
161:exhumation
134:Kevin Ives
99:1970-04-28
83:Kevin Ives
50:1970-09-30
835:Don Henry
214:Autopsies
189:tarpaulin
130:Don Henry
34:Don Henry
858:ID Files
737:Archived
709:archived
680:Archived
651:Archived
557:Archived
522:Archived
493:Archived
461:Archived
397:, 1999.
372:See also
334:cover-up
316:airplane
165:homicide
250:Sheriff
204:hunting
171:wound.
157:autopsy
657:21 May
528:21 May
467:21 May
401:
198:and a
146:tracks
808:(PDF)
237:skull
196:rifle
659:2019
647:KARK
530:2019
518:KATV
469:2019
399:ISBN
169:stab
121:, US
108:Died
89:Born
72:, US
59:Died
40:Born
846:at
837:at
153:THC
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