A year after a man’s body was found in a Metro station, questions remain as to what led to the death of the sharp-witted Smithsonian archivist and set designer.
Lou Stancari was found dead along the tracks at the Farragut North station on Jan. 15, 2011.
Family and friends were slated to gather Sunday to mark the one-year anniversary of the 63-year-old’s death. But for them and investigators, it’s still not clear what happened.
Stancari was a photo archivist with the National Museum of the American Indian and also an award-winning set designer who worked with the Signature Theater.
He had had dinner with friends in his Capitol Hill neighborhood on Jan. 14. Hours later, he appears to have swiped his fare card at the Dupont Circle — across town. It wasn’t until some 10 hours later, midday on a Saturday, that his body was found at Farragut North, a station he normally didn’t use.
He died of multiple blunt impact injuries, which could have been caused by being struck by a train.
The agency has deemed it an accident as the Medical Examiner’s report found no indication that he was pushed from the platform or that he intentionally jumped in a suicide. “Alcohol was a factor and may have contributed to a fall,” according to Metro spokesman Dan Stessel.
Family and friends, however, have been confused as to why he was there. He normally would have taken a cab and was found with plenty of cash in his wallet.
His case remains open but investigators have suspended it because they have exhausted all investigative efforts, Stessel said.
“It’s just disturbing that they would rule it an accident when we don’t know,” longtime friend Cathy Notarnicola said.
Meanwhile, Metro Transit police are close to closing their investigation of a similar death on the system last year. Benoy Chacko, a 37-year-old with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, was found dead on Oct. 1 just north of the platform at Rockville.
Hours earlier he had taken the train from Shady Grove to Dupont Circle, where friends had said he joined them to celebrate a friend’s upcoming wedding. He normally would have returned to Shady Grove. But he got off at Rockville that night.
“We don’t know what caused him to get off there,” Stessel said.
Investigators believe that Chacko then intentionally left the Rockville platform and tried to walk to Shady Grove along the tracks, even though one more train was slated to pass through there for the night. While walking in the tunnel, he was clipped by a passing train, Stessel said, and suffered internal injuries that killed him. Stessel said his blood alcohol was high, beyond the 0.08 level that is considered the legal limit for driving a car.
Investigators are close to finalizing the case, Stessel. “We believe we have answered all the questions and we understand what happened,” he said.
