Tag Archive for: Barbara Arteta

Eugene Arteta: Barbara Arteta’s Death

I wrote about Eugene Arteta after his wife, Barbara, went missing off an Amtrak train last September.  Her body was found dead beside the tracks half way to their destination after the train pulled into the station ending its journey. Eugene’s behavior in an interview after the incident flagged me. You can read my thoughts here.

On March 29, 2011, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC) wrote an update to the story. The first sentence of the article reads, “The mystery around the death of Barbara Arteta may never be solved.”

The AJC further wrote, “District Attorney Jackie Johnson wrote the GBI after reviewing the investigative file that there was not ‘sufficient evidence to support the elements of a crime or any identifiable suspects.’”

Barbara Arteta’s manner of death is listed as undetermined. You can read the article here.

It looks like we may never know what happened to Barbara, sadly.

Eugene Arteta

A man and his wife, Eugene and Barbara Arteta, were on their way home after visiting family on an Amtrak train last Thursday when Barbara disappeared on their return trip to Florida. Authorities later discovered Barbara’s body alongside the tracks, deceased, in Jesup, Georgia. They are calling her death suspicious.

Read moreWhen I watch Eugene, his behaviors and emotions are quite perplexing for a husband who just lost his wife to odd circumstances. He definitely raises red flags for me. I believe he knows more than he is telling us.

When the video first starts, look at how he matter-of-fact Eugene talks about the police finding his wife’s body. He has no problem stating or accepting it. You’d think he was talking about the police finding his stolen car, or some inane object. He has no emotions whatsoever.

He says, “The superintendent just got here and he told me they found my wife. They’ve got a picture of her and everything, and she’s dead in Jesup, Georgia. They don’t know anything yet…”

A reporter asks Eugene, “What do you think happened?” Eugene responds, “I have no idea what happened…I know I lost my baby,” at which time he appears to cry, yet I don’t see any tears. His cry does not seem genuine to me. His tone-of-voice also softens when he says I have no idea what happened. It’s notable.

Eugene goes on in his questionable sob. He says, “I told these guys she got Parkinson’s….move, move, find her. You know, she doesn’t know what she’s doing, you know, she can’t control herself and I told them please find her..wah, wah, wah, ah! You know, I don’t understand it.”

If you notice Eugene turns on the crying, and then it stops suddenly. This is not how people cry genuinely.

Eugene shows frustration with the police above. He is more frustrated with them then concerned or saddened about the loss of his wife. It’s rather chilling. They are merely trying to help him and he seems to look down on them. Why? I’d be curious if he always looked down on police, or if he views them negatively in this situation only? This would be telling.

He continues, “My poor wife, she had Parkinson, she had cancer, she had vertebrae cut, all these things and now she is dead. Why? Why is she dead? On an Amtrak train — the first time she’s roding [sic] on an Amtrak train. She was so happy and proud. I don’t get it. ”

He doesn’t get it? That doesn’t make sense. Why isn’t he wondering about what happened, when he last saw her –how this could have happened? Why isn’t he putting two and two together like most people are that there was likely foul play here?? I mean, Eugene, himself says she was so happy and proud, so she likely didn’t do this on purpose.

Eugene continues his long ramble, “Now this guy tells me that there was a window open, you know, he’s not him, no, sorry…there was a window open. I don’t know what that means, because my wife can’t climb if its…I don’t know how high the window is…but she’s not a climber.”

Eugene’s statements are interesting. First he says, “My wife can’t climb if it’s…” and he stops. He obviously was going to give a qualification, but stopped himself. Then he just says she is not a climber. Why is he self-censoring?

Eugene should know what his wife’s limitations are to know what is and what is not possible for her, and what might involve foul play, but he says nothing about this, strangely. He seems to show no curiosity about what ultimately happened to his wife. It’s a red flag. He just seems to want to accept it.

I also see that Eugene is troubled by his wife’s health. That seems to be his recurring theme here…he tells us she couldn’t control herself, and all the illness she had. Is that what you would think about if you your wife fell off a train? And possibly met with foul play? I would think most people would think about what went wrong first and foremost, but that is the least of what we hear from Eugene. It doesn’t add up.

I would expect Eugene to say, “It would be impossible for her to climb out the train window unassisted. She couldn’t do it. And she was happy, she wouldn’t jump off a moving train on purpose. It doesn’t add up! Someone had to do something to her when I was sleeping!” But he doesn’t, sadly. Or if he believed she jumped on purpose, why doesn’t he say it?

The reporter says, “Do you think she fell off a window or something?”

Eugene replies, “Sir, I have no id…I have…I wish I did…I…who…I don’t know nothing…I don’t know…I know she’s dead because I gave them a picture…and they saw the picture”

Again, Eugene’s answer flags me. A man who has no involvement would be quick to reiterate what he last knew, where they were, what was possible, what was not possible and what the potentials are. Eugene wants us to believe he knows nothing. I’m not buying it.

“Are you sure?” says the reporter with concern.

Notice how Eugene’s “crying” suddenly stops, which is strongly indicative this is not a true cry. He says, “That’s what he said. He said their sure because I gave them a picture, and a lot of my family was sending pictures to them to make sure, that you know, that ah…They say its her. Yeah.”

Watch his emotions when he answers the question of where they were coming from, “Lorton, Virginia. No, no…that’s where you get on the Auto train.” His emotions are as if nothing is wrong whatsoever. It’s perplexing if he is being honest with us.

I notice Eugene says, “The youngest daughter just had a baby.” He doesn’t say it is his daughter or her daughter. It’s a form of distancing.

Also, Eugene talks about how his wife flew up to her daughter’s when the baby was coming and then he met them later. How could she have done this as he said earlier “she doesn’t know what she’s doing, you know, she can’t control herself control herself”? How could she fly alone? Is this possible? Did she fly with someone to assist her or is her condition not nearly as bad as he wants us to believe or he believed? I question this as I don’t know if family or a health professional would be required to assist a person who is unable to “control” themselves.

When the reporter says, “You have a brand new grand baby,” watch how Eugene first smiles, and then goes into another fake cry. He seems more happy with the new grand baby than the sadness of the loss of his wife. That’s very notable. When he “cries” this time, he refers to the daughter as “our daughter”. Interesting.

Eugene turns the crying on and off on cue, if you want my opinion.

Listen to Eugene talk about visiting the kids “…all over. We visited everybody”. He has no sad, negative emotions whatsoever. It’s very notable.

He says, “I don’t get it. How did she end up outside of a train?” I almost get the feeling he wants us to believe she took her life because her illness was too much. She visited all her family, hence said goodbye? Yet he won’t say a thing about what he thinks, which is suspicious to me. Why won’t he share what he thinks happened??

Look at how he mocks the police when he says he asked them if they have cameras in the train. It’s chilling. He says, “‘No, we don’t have cameras in the train because the privacy of the people. Privacy of the people? A person is missing. Isn’t that more important when a person is missing…you know? I don’t know.”

Now he talks about her as a “missing person” again? Does he forget she is dead? Her death doesn’t seem to concern him too much, if you ask me.

Eugene’s emotions do not fit with the story he wants us to believe. What a tragic story. I feel for the family.