BELLE PLAINE, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Public Safety says the deaths of a Belle Plaine woman and her eight-year-old son earlier this month have a been ruled a murder-suicide.
Investigators have determined 36-year-old Teresa Gerleman intentionally ended her life, and that of her son Henry Fields, on May 4th.
Interviews with witnesses, a search of Gerleman’s home, and video from the scene helped investigators come to their conclusion. The video shows Gerleman waited near the railroad tracks for the Union Pacific train to approach. She and Fields crossed the tracks, then she returned to the center of the tracks as the train came closer. At the last minute, she grabbed her son and pulled him into the path of the train.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
