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Greencastle Banner Graphic

Fillmore man killed when train collides with truck

Monday, April 27, 2020 ~ Updated 11:09 AM
By JARED JERNAGAN, Assistant Editor

FILLMORE — A 30-year-old Fillmore man died late Monday morning when a train hit the pickup truck he was driving on the Greencastle-Marion Township.

Ethan Ames was southbound on County Road 300 East just north of the County Road 50 North intersection when he crossed the CSX railroad in front of a train.

According to a release from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, the CSX railroad dispatch center was the reporting party.

The train conductor reported that the train was traveling westbound and the railroad cross arms were down, PCSD reported.

The driver reportedly drove around the activated stop arms, the vehicle stopped on the tracks and the driver exited the vehicle prior to being struck.

The engine made impact with the driver’s side door of the GMC pickup truck.

Representatives from multiple agencies work together to investigate a fatal train accident Monday on the Greencastle-Marion Township line. Ethan Ames, 30, Fillmore, was killed when a CSX train struck his pickup.
Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

Police were notified of the crash at 11:44 a.m. and found Ames, the sole occupant of the vehicle, deceased upon their arrival.

Deputy Brian Helmer is leading the investigation for the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, though he was joined at the scene by fellow PCSD personnel as well as responders from the Indiana State Police — including an accident reconstructionist — as well as the Putnam County Coroner’s Office and CSX representatives.

Authorities remained on the scene for several hours.

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  • Sad news.

    -- Posted by kubotafan on Mon, Apr 27, 2020, at 7:11 PM

  • Many prayers going out to all.

    -- Posted by Nit on Mon, Apr 27, 2020, at 7:13 PM

  • Just a few days after being arrested over a domestic issue. Please, young people, don’t let your domestic situations escalate to where they end in tragedy. Your life is valuable.

    -- Posted by techphcy on Wed, Apr 29, 2020, at 5:10 PM

  • I strongly urge everyone who knows and cares about Ethan Ames or the community of Greencastle to cancel their subscriptions to the gossip rag Banner Graphic. If you’re not a subscriber, I urge you to refuse to advertise in or otherwise support this disgusting publication.

    Within minutes of me learning that I had suddenly and unexpectedly lost my brother, the Banner Graphic published and posted to Facebook explicit and grim details about his death, including information that I hadn’t been told yet and learned for the first time from them.

    In a move that can only be described as grief profiteering, they updated their article with my brother’s name only a few hours later, which I learned about when people began reaching out while I was still fighting to get from my home in California to my parents as quickly as possible. They added his name before it was even released by the Sheriff’s Department.

    This kind of coverage is despicable. My brother would be absolutely humiliated. It was salt in my family’s deep wound, and made the worst day of my life that much harder and more painful. News coverage like that provided by the Banner Graphic exists only for the most gruesome rubberneckers, and encourages the morbid curiosity of the worst elements of our community.

    Since the Banner Graphic obviously has no concern for the well-being of families, it is clear that their only motive is profit and cheap page views at the expense of those suffering. Therefore, I also plan to leave a letter describing how their coverage of Ethan’s tragic death affected me and my family in the delivery box of every Banner Graphic subscriber. I will also be calling every business that advertises in this paper. Perhaps if enough people affect their bottom line, no other family will have to experience this type of coverage during the unimaginable.

    -- Posted by Ashley_Ames on Wed, May 6, 2020, at 1:58 PM
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