Brittany Ritter was last known to be in Holland, Ohio.

Less than two days later, a railroad employee made a discovery more than 100 miles away that investigators are still trying to explain.

At 11:56 a.m. on Sept. 3, a Norfolk Southern Railway employee reported seeing what appeared to be a person lying on top of a stopped train car at a rail yard on West Lusher Avenue in Elkhart, Indiana.

Police and first responders arrived and confirmed that the person was a woman and that she was dead.

For days, authorities did not publicly identify her.

Then, on Sept. 10, investigators announced that the woman was Ritter, a 37-year-old from Holland who had been reported missing in Ohio.

The identification answered one question.

It created a much bigger one:

How did a woman last known to be in Ohio end up on top of a freight train in Indiana?

Authorities have not yet publicly answered it.

The Timeline Is Much Shorter Than It First Appears

Some coverage of Ritter’s case described her as a missing woman who was found after more than a week.

But the actual timeline is more unusual.

According to the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office, Ritter was last seen or heard from in the Holland area during the late evening of Sept. 1 into the early morning hours of Sept. 2.

Authorities said she may have been traveling by bicycle.

Then came the discovery in Indiana on Sept. 3.

That means the unidentified woman on the train was found roughly a day after Ritter’s last known contact in Ohio — even though authorities did not publicly connect the two events until the following week.

Holland sits near Toledo in northwest Ohio. Elkhart is in northern Indiana, roughly 130 miles away by commonly cited estimates.

A bicycle alone obviously does not explain how Ritter crossed that distance in such a short window.

The train might.

But that immediately leads to the mystery at the center of the investigation.

Where did she encounter the train, and under what circumstances did she end up on top of it?

Investigators Know the Train Was Moving West

One detail released by Elkhart authorities gives investigators at least part of a geographic trail.

Police said they determined that the train had come from the east and traveled west before stopping at the rail yard near 2600 W. Lusher Ave. in Elkhart.

That direction matters because Holland, Ohio, lies east of Elkhart.

But authorities have not publicly said where the train originated, what stops it made, when Ritter may have come into contact with it or whether investigators know the precise point at which she ended up on the car.

Without that information, the train itself becomes a moving timeline.

Investigators could potentially need to reconstruct where the railcar traveled, when it stopped, who may have seen it and whether surveillance cameras captured anything unusual along its route.

For now, however, law enforcement has released only the broad direction of travel.

That leaves a major gap between Ritter being in Holland and her being found in Elkhart.

The Bicycle Is Another Unanswered Piece

When Ritter was initially reported missing, authorities said she might have been traveling by bicycle.

That detail raises another obvious question:

What happened to the bike?

Officials have not publicly explained whether Ritter was definitely riding one when she disappeared, whether a bicycle was recovered or whether investigators believe it has any connection to the train.

The distinction is important.

“May have been traveling by bicycle” does not establish that Ritter rode from her last known location directly to a rail line.

It simply describes one possibility authorities were working with during the missing-person search.

Her family had been unable to contact her and was concerned for her welfare, prompting the public appeal for help locating her.

Why Was a Homicide Unit Called?

The involvement of the Elkhart County Homicide Unit may sound as though police have already concluded Ritter was killed.

They have not publicly made that determination.

When Ritter’s body was initially discovered, Elkhart officials said the Homicide Unit was activated “per protocol” and worked on the investigation alongside Norfolk Southern Police.

That distinction matters.

A homicide unit investigating an unexplained death is not the same thing as authorities ruling the death a homicide.

As of the latest public information, Ritter’s cause and manner of death have not been released.

Officials said on Sept. 10 that the autopsy report was not yet complete.

Until forensic findings are released, the public does not know whether Ritter died from an accident, a medical event, injuries, exposure or another cause.

And investigators have not publicly said whether she was alive when she reached the train, when she got onto the railcar or whether someone else was involved.

Those are possibilities to investigate — not conclusions.

The Case Has Now Shifted Back to Ohio

Another unusual development came after Ritter was identified.

The Elkhart County Homicide Unit turned its investigation over to the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio, the agency where Ritter had originally been reported missing.

Lucas County officials said they were continuing to work with authorities in Elkhart as they investigated the circumstances surrounding her death.

That handoff could make Ritter’s movements in Ohio especially important.

Before investigators can explain what happened in Indiana, they may first need to establish exactly what happened during her final hours in Holland.

Who last saw her?

Where was she going?

Did anyone see her near railroad tracks?

Did she meet someone?

Was she seen getting into another vehicle?

And at what point did her path intersect with the westbound freight train?

None of those questions has been publicly answered.

She Was a Mother of Two

Behind the unusual circumstances is a family now grieving while investigators search for an explanation.

A fundraiser created for funeral and memorial expenses describes Ritter as a mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend, and says she was the mother of two sons.

The organizer wrote that her family was facing both the shock of her death and the uncertainty surrounding what happened to her.

That uncertainty remains the defining feature of the case.

Investigators know where Ritter was last known to be.

They know where she was eventually found.

They know the train moved west before arriving in Elkhart.

What they have not publicly explained is the part that connects those facts.

The Missing 130 Miles

The most important evidence may ultimately come from the journey itself.

Freight trains move through rail yards, crossings, industrial areas and communities filled with cameras, workers and potential witnesses.

A reconstructed train route could help investigators narrow down when Ritter first appeared on the railcar.

Phone records or surveillance footage could help establish her movements before that.

The completed autopsy report could answer an even more fundamental question: what happened to her physically, and when?

Until those pieces become public, one image continues to make the case so difficult to understand.

On one end of the timeline is a 37-year-old woman in Holland, Ohio, possibly traveling by bicycle.

On the other is a Norfolk Southern employee looking up at a stopped railcar in Elkhart, Indiana, shortly before noon the next day.

And on top of that car was Brittany Ritter.

Somewhere between those two points lies the answer investigators — and her family — are still trying to find.