Railroad Detective Benjamin Earl "Red" Gaughenbaugh

Benjamin Earl "Red" Gaughenbaugh

Detective Benjamin Gaughenbaugh suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after struggling with a drunken male at the railroad depot in Beardstown, Illinois, on an excessively hot day.

He was able to place the subject under arrest and walked him to the Beardstown Police Department. As he was waiting to book the suspect, he suffered a heart attack and collapsed.

Detective Gaughenbaugh had been in law enforcement for 12 years while serving as a four-term sheriff of Appanoose County and a guard at the Fort Madison Penitentiary, both in Iowa. He was also a Canadian military veteran and served as a sniper in WWI. Detective Gaughenbaugh was survived by his wife, daughter and father. He was buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Centerville, Iowa.