At 4:33 a.m. on Sunday, July 1, the Porter County Coroner’s Office was dispatched to the railroad crossing just north of U.S. 30 on Axe Avenue in Valparaiso, Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris said.

The Coroner’s Office declared Joseph Niepokoj, 24, of Porter, dead at the scene. He was lying motionless on the train tracks when the incident occurred, the Coroner’s Office said.

Harris reports an engineer from Norfolk Southern advised his office that his train was traveling eastbound around a curve when he saw an object on the tracks. The engineer attempted to stop the train but was not able to.

The investigation is still ongoing, and cause and manner of the death have not been determined.

The Porter County Coroner’s Office will be conducting an autopsy and toxicology testing. Valparaiso Police and Norfolk Southern are also investigating the incident.