Duane Beers Dies (Updated)

Duane Beers, 25. Photo: CFZ.

The Center for Fortean Zoology has noted the death of Duane Beers (1986-2012), Richard Freeman‘s half-brother, who passed away on Friday, January 27, 2012.

Our condolences to Richard, and the family and friends of Duane, as well as the CFZ community.

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Further details have been published in the Coventry Telegraph:

Family and friends have been left shocked by the death of a popular 25-year-old who was struck by a speeding train just hours after enjoying a night out.

Duane Beers was seen drinking and dancing in Nuneaton town centre pubs last Friday night but his body was found lying on a remote stretch of the West Coast main line at 9am the next day.

He had been killed outright after being hit by the Crewe-London express.

Air ambulance crews and a rapid response unit rushed to the scene near Caldecote Lane after reports of an incident on the line but the victim, named locally as Mr Beers, was confirmed dead.

Scores of tributes have been posted on his Facebook page. Among them were poignant messages from his wife Debbie, including one which read: “Duane you need to bring me your spirit to me as I just can’t do this on my own. Love you and miss you more than you can imagine.”

A friend, who did not want to be named, said: “Everyone is in a deep state of shock. Duane was around town on Friday night. He was having a good time in the Reflex bar and at the Fever club. I just cannot believe what has happened and it just seems unexplainable.”

Mr Beers, who came from the Camp Hill area of the town, went to Hartshill School and King Edward VI College. He worked at a call centre and at a warehouse on the Bermuda Park Industrial Estate.

His last message on Facebook was on Friday afternoon when he wrote about his plans to go out later to a Chinese restaurant in the town and to celebrate his cousin’s 18th birthday.

Bunches of flowers were placed on a fence alongside the spot his body was found, where the railway crosses a bridle path near the village of Caldecote, off the A444.

One card said: “RIP matey. You always were a total LEDGE.” Another had the words: “I’ll always remember the old times – never forget you.”

Among the many Facebook tributes was one which said: “Broke down in tears at work thinking of the happy times. I remember us going to the Arms after work and drinking in the sunshine and watching you play on the fruit machines.”

Another friend wrote: “Why did you have to go and leave us? I know you will still be partying on up there. Love you always, mate.”

One poignant message read: “Don’t think you ever realised how much you meant to everyone. I’ve known you since the day you were born. You did good Duane. You made people laugh and were fun to be around by the sounds of things and you were truly loved” while another said: “You have so many friends, so many people loved you and no one has a bad word to say against you. You were a legend and nobody will ever forget you.”

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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