PERRY TOWNSHIP - An Ashland, Ky., teen is dead after being struck by a train engine Thursday afternoon.

The victim was identified as Joshua L. Fugett, 17, address unknown. The accident happened just after 1 p.m. on the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks in Perry Township near Sheridan.

Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper J.P. Kisor said Fugett was walking in the middle of the track closest to the river when the incident occurred.

"He (Fugett) was walking in the tracks, he was spotted by the engineer who blew his horn," Kisor said. "The engineer failed to get an acknowledgement. There was an emergency shutdown. The train struck the pedestrian."

The incident occurred in an area just off County Road 1. The heavy mid-summer growth of brush and weeds along the tracks hampered emergency crews first from even finding the accident site and then from getting to it.

The six-engine, 150-car Norfolk Southern train was eastbound when the incident occurred. It was headed to Williamson, W.Va., from Portsmouth and was carrying a variety of goods, said Rudy Husband, spokesman for the railroad. The incident halted train traffic on both tracks for a couple of hours.

The Lawrence County Coroner's Office, Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, SEOEMS and railroad officials were all involved in the recovery of the body and the initial investigation.

It is not known at this time why the teen was on the tracks or why he did not respond to the blast of the train whistle, investigators said.

Lawrence County Sheriff Tim Sexton said investigators are still looking for answers.

"It was a tragic thing that happened," Sexton said. "We suspect he could have been listening to music since he had a (music player) on him. But we cannot know that for sure."

According to one source in the investigation, a note was found in the boy's pocket that suggested one person making plans to "go away" Wednesday.