Crime & Safety

Man Killed on Tinley Park Tracks Early Monday Remains Unidentified

Authorities said Tuesday afternoon that they still haven't IDed the man who was struck and killed by a Metra train this week. A Metra spokesman said a report indicates the death may have been accidental.

Area authorities are still looking for answers in the case of a John Doe who .

Representatives from the  have said the man is likely in his 30s. But even following a Monday autopsy, that's about all they knew.

Metra Spokeswoman Meg Reile said the pedestrian didn't have any forms of identification on him at the time of the crash, which was 12:10 a.m. Monday. He was struck in the 6700 block of South Street in , as the train approached the .

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An investigator from a nearby city was headed to the medical examiner's office around 1:30 p.m. to follow up on a missing person case, a representative said. She wouldn't divulge which town the detective was coming from.

The police report for the incident states that the victim may have tried to get out of the outbound train's way, Reile said.

Find out what's happening in Tinley Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The report says the engineer saw him walking between the tracks in front of them," Reile said. "They blew the horn and pulled the breaks ... It appeared to the engineer that the person tried to dart off the tracks. The problem is this stuff all happens so fast."

The train was going about 50 mph at the time of the accident, she said, and it was pitch black outside.

"It's difficult to know for sure," Reile said. "It appears that to the engineer that the person started to move out of the way, they just didn't move quickly enough. That's his statement."

The train was the last outbound train on the Rock Island Line and was scheduled to arrive in Joliet at 12:40 a.m. It was delayed about two hours, Reile said.

Monday's train accident was third to occur in the area since July. dead after their blue Saturn wound up underneath a crossing gate. An October crash had a better ending — .

"There's no rhyme or reason for where these accidents occur," Reile said. "No matter what, they're really sad."


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