Special Agent Ben Mayfield was struck and killed by a switch engine in the railroad's freight yards near Twelfth Street and Mulberry Street in Kansas City, Missouri.

His body was located by a Kansas City Southern train crew. It was believed that he didn't see the approaching the switch engine while patrolling the railroad yard and was inadvertently struck.

Special Agent Mayfield had served with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Police Department for three years. He was survived by his mother and nine siblings. Interred: Rock Prairie Cemetery, Rock Prairie, Polk County, MO.