D.C. subway commuter's body found still in seat

Rickey Jay Van Houter left his Rockville, Md., home at 9:45 a.m. Monday as he did many weekdays, heading for a commute by train to his government contracting job as a computer programmer.

He had been up late the night before on a deadline for work, his family said, but they noticed nothing unusual Sunday as he helped his wife water flowers and hung a new U.S. flag from the front porch.

But Van Houter, 52, never made it to work Monday. About 7 p.m., his wife, Ilene, said she got a call on her cellphone. It was a Metro Transit Police detective. He was waiting at her home. Ilene Van Houter said she knew something was terribly wrong.

Her husband of 29 years had been found dead, slumped over in a Metro train seat, five hours after boarding. A train operator discovered him at 2:55 p.m., almost three hours after the train had been taken out of service.

Metro officials have said Van Houter apparently died of natural causes. Because they are Orthodox Jews, Ilene Van Houter said, no autopsy would be conducted.

Ilene Van Houter, 52, declined to discuss the circumstances of her husband's death or any health problems he might have had. "We don't know what happened," she said Wednesday.

Sources said the man was found slumped over in a seat a dozen rows behind the operator's cab.

Two train operators were put on administrative leave while Metro investigated why Van Houter's death went unnoticed for so long, but were back at work Wednesday after they passed drug and alcohol tests.

Metro Interim General Manager Richard Sarles said train operators are required to walk through every car of trains brought into a rail yard at the end of the line to ensure no one is on board.