Railroad Detective Frank B. Lakey

Frank B. Lakey

Railroad Detective Frank Lakey was shot and killed while struggling with a subject near the railroad station at Ridgecrest, North Carolina, at approximately 11:00 pm. He was riding a freight train from Asheville to Salisbury and discovered the man stealing from a boxcar as the train was stopped in Ridgecrest. Detective Lakey was shot in the head twice as he struggled with the man.

Ten months later a 23-year-old man arrested in Greenville, South Carolina, confessed to the Buncombe County Sheriff that he killed Detective Lakey. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 30 years. On April 23, 1942, he escaped from a Buncombe County prison farm.

Detective Lakey had served with the Southern Railway Police Department for two years. He had previously served with the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office and as a Washington State forest ranger.