The two people killed on Wednesday when the car in which they were riding was struck by an Amtrak train on a grade crossing on Porter/Lake County Line Road have been identified.

The driver, Elester Grigsby, 29, of Gary, and his front-seat passenger, Adreinne Mills, 21, also of Gary, died of blunt force trauma to the head and chest, Porter County Coroner Vicki Deppe told the Chesterton Tribune today.

According to Gary Police, at 10:44 p.m. Grigsby was northbound on County Line Road when he drove around a downed gate just north of U.S. Highway 12 and across the first set of tracks, used by the South Shore commuter line. As Grigsby tried to cross the second set of tracks, used by Amtrak and Norfolk Southern, his 2002 Kia Optima was struck on the driver’s side by an eastbound Amtrak, bound to New York from Chicago. The train then pushed the car approximately three tenths of a mile.

Grigsby and Mills were killed instantly, police said. They were extricated from the car by the Portage Fire Department.

No one on the Amtrak train, carrying 153 passengers, was injured, police said.

Witnesses advised investigators that the train engineer was laying on the horn prior to impact.

Deppe said that the results of a routine toxicology screen conducted on the victims will not be available for some weeks.

Posted 4/4/2008