13-Year-Old Boy Fatally Struck By Train In Cedar Lake
(CBS) -- A 13-year-old boy who tried to take a shortcut home from school was struck and killed Tuesday by a freight train.
Jeffrey Bellinger, a student at the Hanover Central Middle School, in Cedar Lake, was walking along the side of a set of CSX railroad tracks Tuesday afternoon, about 200 feet north of the 137th Avenue crossing in Cedar Lake, Ind., when he was struck from behind by a train that was unable to stop.
The engineer told police that he repeatedly sounded his horn, but said the teen had his hoodie pulled up over his head and was wearing earbuds when he was struck.
Bellinger was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Lake County Coroner's office has ruled the death an accident, and said Bellinger died of blunt force trauma.
"It's a very close-knit school community, and so this is going to devastate a lot of people, and we'll have to work our way through that," Hanover Community School Corporation Supt. Tom Taylor said.
Bellinger stood out among the 500 students at Hanover Central, as an upbeat and fun-loving teen.
"He had a lot of energy, he had a lot of fun in school, he had a lot of fun with his friends, and he had a lot of friends," Taylor said.
The school sits almost directly beside the train tracks, and four years ago another student died a similar death. The district was making plans to help the school community cope with their loss.
"We have school counselors in place. We have counselors from outside agencies in place. We have several clergy that will be here this morning," Taylor said.
Funeral arrangements were pending Wednesday morning. Meantime, Bellinger's friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for funeral expenses.
