A man found dead 10 days ago on Metro’s Red Line tracks was slated to appear as a contestant on the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” game show on Monday in an odd twist of television pre-taping. Benoy Chacko had been filmed for the show a month before his body was found between the tracks just outside the Rockville station.
Friends and family had been waiting to watch the show to catch a last glimpse of the 37-year-old scientist who died so mysteriously. Now they are waiting to both see the show and get answers about why he died.
| Have a tip? |
| Metro asks anyone who may have information about Benoy Chacko or who may have passed through the Rockville station in the early morning hours of Oct. 1 when his body was found to call Metro Transit Police at 202-962-2121. |
Chacko was found about 200 feet north of the station platform at 3:07 a.m., Oct. 1, by track workers. It appears he may have been hit by a train or track equipment, but it’s still not clear why he was on the tracks or why he was at that station at all.
He had gone out Friday night with friends, taking Metro from Shady Grove and getting off at Dupont Circle, then later reboarding there on a train bound for Shady Grove. He normally would have taken the train home to that station, one stop farther than Rockville.
His iPhone was found on a train by a rider and turned in to a station manager, according to Metro spokesman Dan Stessel. Police are still investigating.
His death doesn’t make sense to those who knew him. He had many things planned. His sister, Kristina Mathews, was scheduled to visit him with her three children last weekend to celebrate his nephew’s 13th birthday. He also was planning to run a marathon. And the game show was supposed to air.
Chacko was a trivia buff. In 1994, he appeared on “Jeopardy” representing the University of Michigan in the college championships.
Then, exactly a month before he died, he competed on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Mathews said she had been with him at the New York City taping.
Chacko was smart by all accounts. He had a Ph.D. in biochemistry and worked at MedImmune, a biotech company in Gaithersburg, where he studied antibodies and engineered protein-based medicines.
He won at least $1,000 on the show as do all contestants, though neither a show spokeswoman nor the family would say how much he took home. They have said people will need to watch to find out — though that won’t be until next year, at some point.
“Out of respect for Benoy’s family and friends during this very difficult time, the show is postponing [the] episodes in which he appeared as a contestant,” a show spokeswoman said in a written statement.
The delay came as a relief to his family.
“We, as a family, will be much more ready I think to see him at that point,” Mathews said.
