news-record.com

BURLINGTON — Two local men struck and killed by an Amtrak train last month had no alcohol in their systems at the time of their deaths, and officials in the state medical examiner’s office won’t be testing for other drugs.

Lawrence Chadwick Hyde, 23, and Christopher “Chris” Thomas Isley, 24, were killed Jan. 14 on the tracks near the 1900 block of North Park Avenue by an Amtrak train heading south to Charlotte.

An autopsy wasn’t done, but Dr. George E. Rinker, an Alamance County medical examiner, examined both bodies.

The report listed the cause of death for both men as “multiple blunt force trauma.” The deaths were ruled accidental.

A blood alcohol test done by the state medical examiner’s office detected no ethanol in the men's bodies.

Burlington police were never able to determine why Hyde and Isley were on the track that night about 6:48 p.m.

A video taken from a camera on the front of the train showed the two men walking on the tracks with the train at their backs when they were hit. The train conductor blew the horn, but Hyde and Isley didn’t react to it.