UPDATE: The Salem Police Department identified the victim as 55-year-old Wesley James Crossman on Monday, Aug. 8.
Investigators have not located Crossman’s family to notify them of his death, according to a news release. Police asked anyone who knows Crossman and his family or has a way to contact them to call the Salem police Traffic Team at 503-588-6293.
Original story below:
A train struck and killed a man walking on the railroad tracks in southeast Salem Tuesday morning, Salem police said.
First responders were called to the intersection of Southeast 14th Street and Hines Street around 6 a.m. after receiving a report of a man being hit by a train.
“The Salem Police Traffic Team’s preliminary investigation indicates the person was walking along the track as the northbound train approached. The rail crew sounded the horn and attempted to stop the train but could not avoid the collision. The man was declared deceased at the scene,” Salem police said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
Southeast McGilchrist Street and Southeast Hines Street across the tracks were closed for several hours as police investigated. Union Pacific officials released the train around 11 a.m. Tuesday, and police reopened the road.
Police have not released the man’s name, pending notification of next of kin.
This story was updated Tuesday at 3:40 p.m. following an update from Salem police.
Caitlyn May served as a journalist for nearly a decade in Nevada and in Linn Lane counties in Oregon with a focus on rural stories and long-form journalism. A graduate of both Oregon State University and the University of Oregon, she currently serves as an elementary school teacher but returns to journalism now and then, remaining a dedicated supporter of the Fourth Estate.
