April 30, 2025
Downers Grove

Police: Downers Grove man's death on Metra tracks likely intentional

By SUBURBAN LIFE

Investigators work at the scene where a Metra train hit and killed a pedestrian near the Downers Grove Public Library Tuesday, March 19. (Mark Busch)

DOWNERS GROVE — Police say the Downers Grove man killed by a Metra train Tuesday likely intended to be struck.

David Conrad Jr., 21, was killed about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday morning when he was hit by an eastbound train just west of the Main Street station.

"Preliminary information suggests Mr. Conrad may have intentionally placed himself in the path of the oncoming train," a Friday afternoon press release from the Downers Grove Police Department stated. "The DuPage County coroner will make the final determination for the cause of death."

The coroner's office has found Conrad suffered multiple head and chest traumas, but a full report won't be ready for up to a few weeks, Coroner Richard Jorgensen said Thursday.

It is the third pedestrian accident this month along the BNSF Metra line.

Earlier last week, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a train in Hinsdale. Two weeks before that, a Hickory Hills man was killed along the railway near Cass Avenue in Westmont. The causes of those fatalities are both still under investigation.