NORTONVILLE — Austin Nance, 22, was struck and killed by a CSX train as he was jogging on the tracks just north of here Thursday morning, according to a report from the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies were dispatched to the tracks in the Little Valley area at 8:21 a.m., after Nance’s body was discovered by an unidentified local resident. It was unclear who summoned authorities, though personnel on the train saw the Nortonville man about to be hit, but were unable to stop. Hopkins County Coroner Dennis Mayfield arrived shortly thereafter and pronounced Nance dead.

Mayfield said Nance was killed on impact as a result of multiple blunt force trauma and that he believes the jogger was struck from behind.

“He was going southbound and so was the train,” said Mayfield.

Authorities have reason to believe Nance was jogging along the tracks based on a statement from the CSX train’s conductor who witnessed the accident. Nance’s family said the tracks were on his regular jogging route, according to Mayfield.

Due to the nature of the case, it was turned over to the Criminal Investigations section of the Sheriff’s Department, said Detective Scott Troutman.

Mayfield said Nance was taken to Reid-Walters Funeral Home in Earlington where funeral arrangements are incomplete.