Real Names: William Don Hainline and Dennis Decker
Nicknames: Billy (William)
Location: Hodgen, Oklahoma
Date: June 25, 1984
Case[]
Details: On June 25, 1984, twenty-one-year-old Billy Don Hainline and twenty-six-year-old Dennis Decker were found lying motionless on a stretch of the Kansas City Southern railroad twenty miles south of Poteauin, Oklahoma. The two were run over by the train and killed. Autopsies showed the amount of alcohol in the blood of the victims was near the legal limit for drunkenness. The county coroner ruled the deaths as accidental, believing that the men fell asleep on the tracks. However, others are convinced that they were victims of foul play. In fact, the state medical examiner's officer ruled the manner of death unknown.
In July 1985, the case was reopened. Investigators focused on the possibility that drugs were involved. Interestingly, one month after the bodies were discovered, a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory was discovered one-and-a-half miles north of the tracks. However, investigations by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) and a grand jury found no evidence of foul play.
Suspects: None known; some have speculated that their deaths were related to the deaths of Don Henry and Kevin Ives in Bryant, Arkansas, in 1987. In both cases, the victims were found laying on train tracks in similar positions.
Extra Notes: This case was briefly referred to on the October 12, 1988 episode of Unsolved Mysteries in relation to the deaths of Don Henry and Kevin Ives.
Results: Unsolved
Links:
- Officials to Reopen Investigation In Deaths of 2 Men Run Over by Train - July 20, 1985
- Death Probe Resurrects 1984 Case - May 25, 1988
- SitcomsOnline Discussion of Hainline and Decker
- Billy Don Hainline on Find a Grave