But if she was hit by a train,the state (I'm thinkin') would not "waste" resources on an autopsy.Is there no way to find out how she died? It had to make more news somewhere.
Well... here's another article which addresses those kinds of details.
Apparently, Caitlin Lee appears to have intentionally seated herself on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks. At least, according to reporter Bill Bird.
Moreover, at the time of the below publication, "toxicological testing of [her] blood" was incomplete but presumably in progress.
A relative and a friend of Caitlin, who was also enrolled in one of ChildServ's programs around the same time period, saw fit to comment...
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Naperville Sun ·
A CHICAGO SUN-TIMES PublicationGirl killed by train in Naperville was an 'at-risk' teenBY BILL BIRD [email protected] November 1, 2011 10:18PM
Updated: January 1, 2012 1:45AMThe teenager who died last weekend after being struck by a train north of downtown Naperville has been identified as a resident of a nearby home for troubled adolescent girls.
And according to an official of the agency overseeing that facility, the teen at the time of her death was about to be moved to another home, one designed to provide "a more secure and structured" environment for her.
Caitlin Lee, 15, was killed instantly about 11:40 p.m. Saturday. Police said she apparently seated herself on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks and was hit by an eastbound Metra commuter train, about 500 feet east of the pedestrian crossing near Fourth Avenue and Loomis Street.
Chief Deputy DuPage County Coroner Charlie Dastych on Tuesday listed the cause of Lee's death as "massive traumatic injuries" sustained after being struck by the train. While toxicological testing of Lee's blood remains incomplete, Dastych said the manner of death "at this point in time ... appears intentional."
She is the fifth person to be killed on the train tracks in Naperville in the past five months.
Lee since June had lived with three other adolescent girls in a two-story house on North Sleight Street. The home is operated by ChildServ, a 117-year-old "multidisciplinary" network that "reaches children and families facing adversity" in DuPage, Cook and Lake counties, according to the mission statement posted on the agency's website.
ChildServ works with 3,100 children and families annually, the website indicated. Its programs "deliver immediate intervention, protection or shelter when needed, and provide longer-term guidance and support to help children grow into healthy and thriving adults."
ChildServ also operates homes on Iroquois Avenue in Naperville and Main Street in Lisle.
Millicent Collier, ChildServ's director of marketing and communications, said Tuesday officials of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services referred Lee's family to ChildServ.
"She came to us with a troubled past," Collier said of Lee. "She had a history of risky behaviors that were taking place at an earlier age," problems that included "running away," Collier said.
ChildServ officials in mid-September concluded Lee needed "a more secure and structured" way of living than the Sleight Street home could offer, Collier said. "We were actually working with DCFS to move her to a different facility, where she would be in a more structured environment."
"But any mention of her being suicidal certainly was not a part of her history. In our homes, to our knowledge, we don't have clients who have that level of psychiatric issues."
Workers assigned to ChildServ's facilities monitor their clients' movements, but often do not realize when their charges have left the premises without permission. Naperville police are routinely called to the Sleight Street address to aid in the search for runaways.
Police Sgt. Gregg Bell said officers and members of the Naperville Fire Department thus far this year have answered 417 calls for emergency service at the Sleight Street home. While some calls stem from battery and other comparatively minor crimes, "maybe 75 to 80 percent of them involve a missing person or a runaway," Bell said.
Police and fire employees "try to work closely" with ChildServ, Bell said. Calls for emergency assistance over the years have "probably grown more due to the type of residents they sometimes have in there," he said.
Bell stressed, however, that likening the Sleight Street facility to a typical home or neighborhood "would be an unfair parallel to draw. These are young kids who have had difficulties in their lives ... and have different needs than what you would find in your average household."
Collier said when ChildServ clients find themselves placed in one of the homes, "it's a new environment, and they're trying to get back to where they came from. Unfortunately, this particular teen was still in those early stages of wanting to run back to where she came from," Collier said of Lee.
Police records indicated officers this year have been most often called to help search for the same two or three teens who have run away from the Sleight Street home. Lee did not appear to be one of them.
"I cannot say factually that (staff members) were routinely calling the police" because of Lee being a runaway, Collier said. "The police know the staff, and it's really more of a partnership, to help us work with the girls and get them back on track."
"In this particular case, the staff did follow the necessary procedures," Collier said of Lee's leaving the house. "They handled that accordingly."
"It's really a tragedy that the process just wasn't moving fast enough to get her to that environment she needed to be in before something like this could happen," Collier said of Lee. "But even so, ChildServ was delivering its mission with full diligence and working with the other community service partners," including the DCFS and police, she said.
"One death is certainly more than what really should be," Collier said. "It's one too many."
"The problem is, it's bigger than any one provider,” Collier said. "We're taking the stand that this is a true indicator that our social system has some value, but there certainly is room for improvement, so that we can prevent these types of occurrences."
"The feeling is, the system has failed Caitlin."
© 2011 Sun-Times Media, LLC.