Brookfield police are continuing to investigate what appears to be a suicide that happened on the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad tracks sometime prior to 9:30 p.m. Thursday night just east of Prairie Avenue.
A Metra train engineer told police that while he was lighting up the tracks ahead of him as the train proceeded eastbound, he spotted a severed body on the tracks. The engineer stopped the train, ordered all of the passengers off and contacted police.
The victim was a 54-year-old Broadview man, whose car was found parked in the 8800 block of Brookfield Avenue. The man’s body was found near the southernmost set of railroad tracks. Police identified the man via a state ID card found in his wallet.
Police transported the body to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. According to police, railroad officials are conducting an internal investigation to determine which train struck the man.
Metra spokesman Tom Miller indicated that Metra traffic on the south track was delayed by about an hour. Three trains in all were affected by the incident.
