In the late summer of 1892, a grim discovery in the rail yards of Ottumwa shocked the community and left behind questions that were never answered.
Early on the morning of August 18, 1892, the body of Thomas McGary was found lying on a little-used Milwaukee Railroad sidetrack in Ottumwa. His skull had been badly crushed, and authorities initially believed he had accidentally been struck and run over by a train sometime during the previous night.
But not everyone accepted that explanation.
According to reports at the time, several of McGary’s friends believed his death was no accident. They claimed he had been “foully treated,” insisting he may have been attacked elsewhere and placed on the tracks afterward to hide the crime. Some suspected the injuries to his head were caused before the train incident, possibly from being struck with a sandbag or similar weapon.
The case carried an eerie detail that made the story even more haunting. Nearly one year earlier, McGary had reportedly been hit by a train in almost the exact same location, an accident that resulted in the loss of one of his legs.
Despite suspicions surrounding the circumstances of his death, no arrests were ever made. The death of Thomas McGary remains one of the many unsolved mysteries from Iowa’s early history.
This report is based on research by Nancy Bowers and sourced from Iowa Unsolved Murders: Historic Cases.
