ALTAMONT — A teenager died Saturday after a train hit him while he was walking on tracks near his home.
Cain Alexander Daugherty, 17, of Altamont, was pronounced dead shortly after noon by Effingham Chief Deputy Coroner Tanya Overbeck, said Coroner Leigh Hammer. Daugherty was walking on the tracks one-half mile west of 450th Street in Altamont when the train hit him from behind. Hammer said the train's conductor blew his whistle several times, but Daugherty never turned around nor moved off the CSX Railroad tracks.
"There was nothing they could do," said Hammer. "They knew they were about to hit him. It's got to be an absolutely horrible thing."
Hammer said Daugherty might have been using the tracks as a shortcut between his home and another place he frequented.
"His mom said it wasn't uncommon for him to walk that way (on the tracks)," Hammer said, although she did not know why Daugherty did not turn around. However, Hammer did say that an iPod was found on Daugherty.
Hammer said it was at least the fifth time a train has hit someone in Effingham County since she became coroner about a decade ago.
See Monday's edition of the Daily News for more details.
Matt Saxton can be reached at 217-347-7151, ext. 129, or at matt.saxton@effinghamdailynews.com.
