Police: Glen Carbon man lets daughter out of car, crashes it into train, is killed

A Glen Carbon man is dead after he dropped his 4-year-old daughter off on the side of the road and seemingly crashed his car, intentionally, into a train in Logan County.

Charles I. Wood, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:26 p.m. Friday, according to Logan County Coroner Robert Thomas. Wood died of blunt-force trauma.

Witnesses told rescue workers they saw Wood drop off his 4-year-old daughter at the side of Old Route 66 in Broadwell. He then drove his Mitsubishi Eclipse around a set of crossing gates, turned onto the train tracks and accelerated, driving his car head-on into the front of an approaching freight train.

Wood’s daughter witnessed the crash. When authorities showed up, she was being comforted by other witnesses whom she did not know. The child was in the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

Thomas said tests were done to see if Wood was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but as of Tuesday the results had not yet returned from the laboratory. He was awaiting a report from the Logan County Sheriff’s Department before finalizing his findings about Wood’s death.

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 7:10 AM with the headline "Police: Glen Carbon man lets daughter out of car, crashes it into train, is killed."