The medical examiner has released the identity of a 24-year-old man who died after he was hit and critically injured by a Metra train along the Union Pacific North line in Highwood.
The Highwood Police Department and Highland Park Fire Department responded around 1:40 a.m. April 9 to the Highwood Metra station, 317 Green Bay Road in Highwood, for a report of a pedestrian struck by a train.
Emergency crews arrived and found a male victim who had been struck by Metra Train #377, which was outbound and the last train of the night.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him on Monday as Josmar Narvaez-Martinez, 24, whose town of residence was unknown.
The incident occurred south of the Metra station in the area of Green Bay Road and Bloom Street, according to Metra spokeswoman Meg Thomas-Reile.
All train traffic on the Union Pacific North line was halted during the incident.
An ambulance rushed Narvaez-Martinez to Endeavor Health Evanston Hospital.
Narvaez-Martinez was in “very critical” condition at the hospital with life-threatening injuries, Thomas-Reile said.
The medical examiner’s office said Narvaez-Martinez died in the hospital on April 11.
No injuries were reported on the train involved.
Officers were working to identify Narvaez-Martinez and obtain video footage from the train of the collision.
Thomas-Reile said Narvaez-Martinez was initially a “John Doe” after officers were unable to find any identification in his possession or during the canvass of the scene.
The medical examiner’s office was later able to positively identify him as Narvaez-Martinez.
His identity was withheld until this week as the medical examiner’s office worked to notify his next of kin.
The train involved was released from the scene around 3:40 a.m. and trains were allowed to resume travel in the area but at restricted speeds.
The morning commute was not impacted, Thomas-Reile said. It is unclear why the man was on the train tracks in the area where he was struck as it is elevated and not a pedestrian crossing.
Narvaez-Martinez is originally from Mexico, his obituary said. His family is working to raise funds to have him transported back to San Francisco de Arriba, Juquila, Oaxaca, for burial.