Post updated at 10:45 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24:
A woman was struck by a train and died from her injuries early Thursday, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Although law enforcement was unable to provide a positive identification on Friday, numerous sources have confirmed that the woman killed was Chansi Long, 40, of Lawrence.
Long was previously a freelance reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World and The Lawrence Times, and she was an advocate for people experiencing homelessness in Lawrence. She was the mother of two young daughters.
The collision occurred at 8:12 a.m. Thursday just north of Sandra J. Shaw Park, near Second and Indiana streets in Lawrence, George Diepenbrock, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said via email Friday.
“According to a preliminary investigation at this time, the woman was walking in the same direction of the train and did not respond to the train’s horn,” Diepenbrock said. “The Sheriff’s Office crash reconstruction team and coroner scene investigators responded to collect evidence at the scene, and DGSO notified investigators with BNSF, which owns the tracks in the area.”
Deputies were working to identify the woman, and pending identification and notification of her family, no further details would be released, Diepenbrock said Friday morning.
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