UPDATE: 9:55 p.m. – Preliminary autopsy reports indicate Betty Halverstadt died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head and neck consistent with falling onto a hard surface, Undersheriff Bill Mueller said Sunday night.
There are no signs the woman was struck or clipped by a passing car or other vehicle. Investigators have theorized as to how Halverstadt may have fallen from the bridge but have little evidence about how the incident actually happened.
"As of right now, it would appear the fall was accidental in nature," he said.
Halverstadt had a cell phone with her but it is unclear if she placed a call about her car problems or if the phone was charged and functioning properly.
Mueller said a toxicology report would show whether Halverstadt was drinking. But, he said, the investigation so far indicates the woman had few, if any, drinks at the casino.
That leaves investigators wondering if Halverstadt had to move away from the road suddenly to avoid oncoming traffic. Or perhaps she sat on the guard rail of the bridge and a passing semi created a gust that pushed the woman off the bridge.
"But really all that is speculation," he said. "We really don’t know a lot about the how of it. How she fell."
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It was sometime after 1:30 a.m. when Betty Halverstadt’s car broke down along U.S. Highway 77 south of Winfield early Saturday. It appears she pulled the vehicle to the side of the road and at some point got out of the car and began walking toward Winfield, an investigator said Sunday.
She went about a mile before encountering a bridge where trains pass under the highway, but never made it past that point. Halverstadt fell 27 feet from the bridge and landed on concrete below, Undersheriff Bill Mueller said.
A railroad crew found her body near the tracks around 7:45 a.m.
How she fell is a question that still remains unanswered but a scenario is beginning to take shape.
"There is no indication there was anybody else with her" at the time of the fall, Mueller said.
That would seem to rule out foul play, though investigators cannot be certain of that until an autopsy is conducted Monday.
And, given what Mueller knows now, it appears highly unlikely Halverstadt took her own life. The idea the woman’s car broke down before she walked a mile and purposely jumped from a bridge is far fetched, he said.
But again, he said, nothing is ruled out until investigators are able to attain reliable information. Here is what Mueller said is a likely scenario given the information available thus far:
Earlier in the evening, Halverstadt had been at an Oklahoma casino just across the Kansas-Oklahoma border south of Arkansas City. There is no indication that anything out of the ordinary took place prior to her car breaking down, Mueller said, and family members confirm she had been at the casino.
Investigators also expect to review tape from the casino to determine Halverstadt’s activities that evening.
At some point the woman left the casino and presumably headed for home in Winfield. Whether she headed straight for home is a question that is unanswered.
Along U.S. 77 she experienced car trouble.
Her vehicle was found with a large pool of oil beneath it and there may have been some major transmission problems, Mueller said. Trackers found evidence that Halverstadt left her car and walked up to the bridge.
But she had no flashlight and would have been walking at the darkest time of night ? somewhere between 1:30 a.m and a few hours before she was found, Mueller said. Preliminary information indicates Halverstadt was dead for several hours before her body was located.
An autopsy will include toxicology testing to determine whether Halverstadt might also have been under the influence of alcohol, which might have hampered her as she walked toward Winfield.
Mueller did not comment when asked whether the victim may have made calls or had a cell phone to ask for help. The investigation was continuing Sunday.
