Friends want answers about Fairfield woman hit by train in 2023

FAIRFIELD – A group of residents is planning a “peaceful picket” to raise awareness about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Fairfield woman Cortney Heather Schaffer Haynes in 2023.

Cortney, 30, was discovered dead on April 9 of that year after being struck by a train in Fairfield near the 23rd Street crossing. The Fairfield Police Department requested the assistance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

The Union reached out to Fairfield Police Chief David Thomas and Jefferson County Attorney Chauncey Moulding to ask if authorities had issued any reports on what happened to Cortney. Moulding wrote back to say the case remains open and active.

“The manner of death has been classified as undetermined, and no additional information can be released by our office while the investigation is ongoing,” Moulding wrote in an email to The Union. “We want to ensure that the integrity of the investigative process is maintained and that any conclusions are based on a complete and thorough review of all available evidence.”

Some of Cortney’s friends believe her death was caused by foul play, including her boyfriend, Joe Mickels. Joe is among those organizing the peaceful protest titled “Justice for Cortney Schaffer” planned for 3 p.m. Saturday, July 5. Friends will meet at the Dexter Laundry parking lot at 2:45 p.m. and then head toward the Jefferson County Law Center. A Facebook post from Kate Copeland announcing the event states the purpose of it is to make the Fairfield Police Department “know that our loved ones need to have justice and closure.”

Brook Stagers was a friend of Cortney’s, who told The Union she plans to attend Saturday’s protest, too. She became friends with Cortney when Cortney moved here from Chicago when the two were in high school. Though they had lost touch the last couple years of Cortney’s life, Brook said the two were still best friends.

“It’s just really hard,” she said. “It’s crazy because I don’t understand how anyone could hurt a kind soul like she has.”

Joe was with Cortney when she disappeared the night of April 8, 2023. He said they were hanging out at Leisure Living Estates, the trailer park on the west side of Fairfield where they were living with Cortney’s mother Sheila Schaffer. They decided they would camp in their car that evening. Joe had to leave for a brief time, and was gone about 30-45 minutes, and when he came back around 9:45 p.m., Cortney was gone, and so was her car. This was a surprise to Joe, who said that Cortney told him she would wait for him to get back. Joe called her, to no avail.

“I started to get worried,” he said.

Joe drove around looking for Cortney but found nothing. When he returned to their trailer at 11 p.m., Cortney’s car was back, and her keys were inside, but she was nowhere to be found.

“As soon as I noticed the keys in the car, I panicked. I was freaking out,” Joe told The Union.

Joe said it didn’t make any sense, because he and Cortney had been planning to move to Arkansas together the following month, and live in a camper while building a treehouse. He knew that Cortney would not have run away.

While looking for Cortney on foot, Joe said he heard a “blood-curdling scream.”

“It was terrifying, the worst I’ve ever heard in my entire life,” he said. “It was definitely nearby. It sounded like it was maybe far away in the trailer court, and my head whipped toward the storage units. I made a beeline in that direction.”

But Joe didn’t find anything near the storage units. He went out with a flashlight, and didn’t see anybody. When he returned to their trailer, he told Sheila about the scream he heard, and told her they needed to call the police.

Joe continued looking for Cortney on his own, going to a few places in town where she had sought solitude.

“I knew in my heart that scream was her,” he said.

The following afternoon, police arrived at the trailer court with the tragic news that Cortney’s body had been found, apparently hit by a train.

“I lost my mind,” Joe said.

Joe, along with members of Cortney’s family, were able to view security camera footage from the train that hit her. Joe said he saw that Cortney was lying perpendicular on the railroad tracks. Joe does not believe the train killed Cortney, but rather that she died before the collision.

Cortney’s autopsy report was done April 13, 2023 at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny. It details her injuries from the train collision, and at the end includes a toxicological analysis which states that Cortney’s blood was positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine, alprazolam, alpha-hydroxyalprazolam, nicotine and cotinine.

The autopsy states, “According to investigative reports, the decedent and her personal belongings were found scattered along a section of railroad tracks. She had a reported history of depression, drug use, suicidal ideation with a known attempt, and hepatitis C infection … Based on autopsy and investigative findings available at the time of this report, the manner of death is best certified as undetermined.”

Joe said it’s true Cortney had a history of drug use, but he does not believe she died of a drug overdose and then fell on the railroad tracks, or that she committed suicide. Rather, he believes that people who knew Cortney from the drug trade had something to do with her death.

“I’m pretty sure this was an attempt at human trafficking,” he said.

Joe said there are specific people who he believes to be responsible, though The Union has not had the chance to corroborate the accusations, nor to reach these individuals for comment. Thus far, no arrests have been made in relation to Cortney’s death.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation had not responded to a request for comment by press time Wednesday.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com