Police and fire crews respond Thursday to Western Avenue and Laurel Avenue for a train that struck and killed a pedestrian. | Photo: Max Weingardt.

Detectives are investigating after a woman in her 60s or 70s was struck by a Metra train and immediately killed Thursday evening in Lake Forest, police said.

The Lake Forest Police Department and Lake Forest Fire Department responded around 8:04 p.m. Thursday to the area near Western Avenue and Laurel Avenue for a report of a pedestrian struck by a train.

Officers arrived and found a female white in her late 60s or early 70s deceased adjacent to the railroad tracks, according to Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief Rob Copeland.

Copeland said the victim was struck by a northbound Metra train and killed immediately.

Lake Forest police detectives continue to investigate the incident along with the Metra Police Department and the Lake County Coroner’s Office.

The Lake County Coroner’s Office responded to the scene and is in the process of scheduling an autopsy on the woman.

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The woman’s manner of death was not immediately released but Copeland told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that detectives found “no reason the victim was on the tracks, in that spot, at that time of night.”

“There is no pedestrian crossing within a 1/4 mile of there so we can find no motive why she would be there trying to cross the tracks in the dark. Trains are plainly visible from both directions,” he said.

The woman’s identity is being withheld pending confirmation by the coroner’s office and notification to her family, Copeland said, adding that the coroner will have to make the determination on the manner of death.

According to Metra, Union Pacific-North line train #355 struck the woman and all inbound and outbound train movement had been halted following the collision.

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Inbound and outbound trains had resumed with extensive delays by 10:15 p.m. Thursday, Metra said.