Truck driver at feed lot in Keyes struck and killed by train

A 64-year-old Turlock man was killed Thursday morning in Keyes when he was hit by a train that continued on its way, according to authorities.

The discovery of Miguel Vigil Ruelas’ body was made by people working at A.L. Gilbert Co., on Jessup Road, which dead-ends near the Union Pacific tracks that run along Highway 99.

The dispatch call was at 7:09, said Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Hector Longoria. He said Ruelas was a truck driver apparently delivering a load to the Gilbert feed lot there. Ruelas’ truck was sitting nearby, still mostly full.

There were no known witnesses to the collision. When others at the business realized they hadn’t seen the driver for some time, they went looking and saw his body on the side of the tracks nearest the highway, Longoria said.

The preliminary investigation shows the train was northbound, he said, but it was unknown why the train did not stop. It also had not been determined whether the train was freight or Amtrak, Longoria said, though freight trains are more common on those tracks.

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 8:12 AM with the headline "Truck driver at feed lot in Keyes struck and killed by train."