At a Spokane rail yard recently, Grandinetti approached a scraggly, middle-aged couple gobbling hot dogs and beer under the Freya Street bridge. They yanked the necks of their shirts down to reveal skin where FTRA bandannas would hang. Stop messing with us, they screamed. Find the guys who killed Horizontal John. Natural causes, the coroner said.
Transients think the gang claimed another victim.
Grandinetti thinks they're probably right. Few of the cases involving foul play are solved. The loose-knit gang has terrorized transients in freight trains, rail yards and hobo camps for years. They run roughshod over Southern lines from Texas to California, Northern lines across the Midwest and so-called high lines from Minnesota to Northern California. Rail riders usually don't have permanent addresses.