Although police will not identify a woman found dead early Sunday morning as an ISU student, they are revealing more circumstances surrounding her death.

Raven Gileau, sophomore in accounting, was identified by a friend as being the woman who was found dead on the train tracks near the intersection of 13th Street and Ontario Avenue by officers after she was reported missing at 3:19 a.m. Sunday morning.

Police and university officials have not yet released the name of the woman at the family’s request.

Ames Police Cmdr. Mike Brennan said he could not identify the woman found early Sunday morning, but was able to talk about the circumstances around the woman’s death.

Brennan said the woman, who a friend identified as Gileau, was at a bar in Campustown with some friends when she decided to leave. She and a male friend left, presumably to head home, Brennan said. 

Gileau is listed in the ISU Directory as living in building 52 in Frederiksen Court.

The woman, Brennan said, walked with her friend up Hyland and over onto 13th Street before reaching the portion of the road where the train bridge crosses above it. 

Gileau was said to have been wearing shorts at the time of her disappearance.

Brennan said the woman who was found on the tracks was cold and wet and said she couldn’t walk any further after reaching the bridge. She took shelter underneath the bridge, and her companion said he would go get a car and come back for her. 

Brennan said the woman had been drinking that evening. When her friend returned with another person they could not locate the woman. The police became involved after a call about a missing student was placed. Police records identify the missing student as Raven Gileau.

While police are not exactly sure of the details and are waiting for an autopsy report on the woman, circumstances indicate that sometime between the time she took shelter under the bridge and her friend left, and when he came back for her, the woman ended up on the tracks and is thought to have been struck by a train.

“At about that time Union Pacific called and said they thought they saw an animal on the tracks,” Brennan said. 

This kind of call from Union Pacific is not unusual, he said.

After receiving this call, officers went up onto the track where they discovered the body.

He said the logical scenario was that the woman had made her way up on to the tracks where she was struck by the train. 

According to police reports, Union Pacific Railroad is currently reviewing tapes to find out which train struck the young woman.

While police have not yet released the name of the missing woman, the missing person report that was called in at 3:19 a.m. on Sunday that lists Raven Gileau as missing, has been reclassified as a death investigation.

A Facebook page has been created for Gileau.

Check back for updates on the investigation and a profile of Gileau’s life.

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