UPDATE: NBC2 has learned that Clifton Smith has died following an accident involving the Murder Mystery Dinner Train. 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The man hit by a train in Fort Myers is in hospice care.

Nearly three weeks ago, Clifton Smith suffered serious injuries after an accident involving the Murder Mystery Dinner Train. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: One person hit by train in Fort Myers

“He’s a very active person. He’s a loving person,” his wife Debra Smith said. “He likes to go for walks and look at TV and we pretty much take care of each other.”

On February 10, Debra came home and looked for her husband of more than 30 years.

“I went to rehearsal. When I came back home, I went to the room door and I called him,” she said. “I didn’t get an answer.”

Clifton lives with dementia, high blood pressure and diabetes. When Debra and her granddaughter realized he was missing, they called the police right away.

After about 30 minutes after she gave them her husband’s picture and description, she said an officer came back to her house.

“And he said, “Mrs. Smith, your husband got hit by a train.” And I just lost it,”” she said. “I went to crying.”

Private investigator John Rode said the Smith family reached out to him after they hired a lawyer shortly after Clifton was hit by the train. He came to Fort Myers looking for answers.

“I spoke to witnesses in the neighborhood [who] heard the train honking their horn,” he said.

Smith is still recovering from his injuries.

“They rushed him to the hospital. They had to amputate his legs above the knee,” Debra said. 

Rode is looking deeper into what happened the night Smith was hit and what caused the train to hit him as it moved through Fort Myers.

“This is not like a fast bullet train or Amtrak,” he said. “This is a very, very slow-moving train. It goes anywhere from five to seven miles per hour. It’s a three-and-a-half-hour dinner train, very small in size, four or five dinner cars.”

Right now the train moves on a shortened route because of Hurricane Ian damage on the tracks. The total round trip is still three and a half hours, according to the train’s website.

“It’s just kind of hard to believe that a train going this slow and a conductor that was paying attention could not have seen the person on the tracks,” Rode said, “and could not have slowed that train down.”

Rode also wants to look into different safety factors. There are streetlights near where Smith was hit by the train, but he said what you don’t see in this area are clear signs telling people to avoid the tracks.

“I’m looking for signs like a stop sign that says ‘No Trespassing, Beware of train, Be Careful’. Especially for young children or someone who can’t read, or someone who has the type of mental issues. They’re not gonna see that little sign right there,” he said.

The Seminole Gulf Railway sent us a statement saying in part, “We do not have any comment from the incident from February 10th. We continue to send our condolences and prayers to Mr. Smith.”

With every hospital visit, Debra gives as much comfort to her husband as she can.

“I rubbed his head. He opened his eyes,” she recalled from a recent visit. “And I told him I love him. He told me he loved me. He was trying to get up but he can’t because he doesn’t have any legs at all.”

“I just feel sorry for her and hope that things could be changed,” Rode said. “I hope that in some way, the company or insurance company will make this right for the family.”

Police are still investigating this accident. Count on NBC2 to bring you updates as we receive them.

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