Wednesday, March 15, 2006; Posted: 1:42 p.m. EST (18:42 GMT)

Tara Rose McAvoy was named Miss Deaf Texas in June 2005.

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Manage Alerts | What Is This? (CNN) -- Deaf beauty contest winner Tara McAvoy was walking from home to her mother's workplace, text-messaging family and friends, as she walked along the railroad tracks in Austin, Texas, when a train struck her, according to the Austin Police Department.

A Massachusetts-born Texan, who liked to quote "Don't mess with Texas," the 18-year-old was going to represent the Lone Star State at the Miss Deaf America Pageant in Palm Desert, California, this July.

It was one of many pageants McAvoy had entered, "both in the hearing community and in the deaf community," said Claire Bugen, superintendent of the Texas School for the Deaf, on Wednesday.

The Austin Police Department received a 911 call from Union-Pacific, which owns the train, at 2:18 p.m. Monday, said Laura Albrecht, spokesperson for the Austin Police Department.

"Our understanding is that she text-messaged the family, and yes, the family members were going to pick her up," Albrecht added.

McAvoy was walking northbound along the railroad ties, with her back to the train, as it approached. A horn sounded, but "they weren't able to get a response," said Austin Police Department detective David Fugitt. "At that point, they activated their emergency braking system, but they weren't able to stop in time."

A snowplow -- commonly referred to as "cattle-guards" for pushing items away from the tracks to avoid train damage -- was what struck McAvoy, who was estimated to be "no more than a foot" from the tracks, Fugitt said.

"The snowplow extends approximately 16 inches on each side from the train," he said, and was mounted to the front engine of the train.

McAvoy died at the scene from "multiple traumatic injuries," Fugitt said.

Fugitt said there were witnesses who had heard the horn sound and that the police department was actively seeking anyone who had seen the accident occur.

An investigation is underway with Union Pacific and the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, Fugitt said. He said it was unclear how fast the train was going.

Submitted on 03/15/2006

Submitted by: Matt Paulsen
Reference: CNN March 15, 2006

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James said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
A little more background detail on this developing story. Thanks, Matt.

Sheryl said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Thanks, Matt. Darwin can have a look at this one. By the way, why are we treating this as unusual? Just because she was deaf? As you said, James, she'd have "felt" the train.

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