ALTO — Habersham County Coroner Kasey McEntire said Saturday the man killed when he was struck by a train in Alto Friday night was Tobie Saifone Thonetheva, 22, of Cornelia.
Thonetheva was killed when he was struck by an eastbound freight train in front of Mount Vernon Mills in Alto.
Thonetheva was walking eastbound toward Alto on the railroad ties about one foot to the north side of the metal tracks, said Trooper 1st Class Aaron Walden of Georgia State Patrol Post 7 in Toccoa.
“The locomotive, unable to stop, struck the pedestrian with its front left,” Walden said. “The pedestrian then traveled about 200 feet east, where the body came to rest face down facing east.”
The area of impact was on the railroad tracks about 1,000 feet east of Mount Vernon Mill Road.
The front of the train came to rest on the tracks just north of the downtown crossing near the Alto Post Office, with the back of the train coming to rest just north of the Mount Vernon Mills overpass.
“It is believed that the pedestrian was on his cell phone at the time of the incident,” Walden said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Thonetheva family at this difficult time,” McEntire said.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/4/522861/update-coroner-identifies-man-killed-by-train-in-alto