Michael Hennen, 27, and Hannah Barnes, 19The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office is closing the investigation into the deaths of a young man and woman killed by a train after reviewing toxicology reports.
“The toxicology came back as we suspected,” Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond said Tuesday at a news conference, noting there were no drugs in the systems of Hannah Barnes and Michael Hennen and alcohol levels in their blood were not remarkable.
Unless new information is brought forward, the Aug. 22 deaths of 19-year-old Barnes and 27-year-old Hennen will remain ruled accidental, he said.
A Norfolk Southern train struck the pair while they were lying on a paved private crossing at the McDonald farm, a Sale Creek property owned by Hennen’s family. The train crew had about six seconds or less to respond after seeing them on the tracks about 6 a.m., Hammond said.
“The sheriff’s office has no reason to suspect anything. It was a couple of young people out at the wrong place at the wrong time — a little alcohol in their system,” he said. “It was a tragic accident. Unless any evidence comes forward, that’s the way it will stand in our official report.”