Officials Won’t Rule Out Foul Play in Rail Death

A man whose body was found in two pieces was apparently killed by a train Thursday afternoon in Lincoln Heights, said a Fire Department spokesman who would not rule out foul play.

“We have had cases where a victim has been murdered then dumped onto the tracks,” said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey, who added that the identity of the man was not known. “Sometimes you think it’s a train and we later discover bullets in the body.”

Fire Department personnel were called to the scene near 1775 N. Spring St. about 2 p.m. after several people reported a man near the railroad tracks.

If the death was a train accident, it would be the second fatal rail incident in the county in two days. On Wednesday, a Covina motorist--later identified as 37-year-old Jose Joaquin Fernandez--drove onto a Metrolink rail crossing, then remained in the car and was killed on impact.