CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A 15-year-old boy was found dead after police say he said fell into the water from a train trestle in Chesapeake Sunday night.
According to the Chesapeake Police Department, officers went out to the 1000 block of Back Road after learning that the teenager had fallen from the railroad bridge. That was around 7:08 p.m.
Just before 11 p.m., Chesapeake Police stated that his body was found underwater and pronounced dead.
Neighbors who live right next to the train tracks said they saw a group of four teenagers walking along the tracks the night of the incident. A neighbor said he told the teens to not go toward the edge by the trestle where the canal of the Elizabeth River is because it's dangerous.
However, he said the teens kept on walking.
One neighbor, Glenn Edwards, said it's a problem his community has seen regarding younger people walking behind on the property toward the trestle over the past two decades. He said he would often hear about people jumping off the trestle while it was lifted and suspended over the water.
"We always try to warn kids not to go back there," Edwards said. He then referenced the latest incident where the teen died, saying, "That's kind of been our fear as neighbors here all these years is you don't know what's in that water."
Edwards said over the years, he's called Chesapeake Police to try to get the teens to stop trespassing, to keep them safe from the edge. While he said officers tried, they still couldn't keep people from going back there.
Edwards said he took matters into his own hands by getting the railroad workers to install a fence to prevent cars from passing between his and his neighbor's home. He said they put the fence up about two years ago and that helped, but people were still walking back onto the tracks.
He said he now warns anyone who passes behind his yard on the tracks, but said he can't monitor it at all times. Edwards said he hopes, in light of this tragedy, that the neighbor's warnings carry a heavier weight for anyone who passes by his home on the tracks.
"It's frustrating," Edwards said. "You know something like this was going to happen. It's just a matter of time. I just hope parents see this newscast and talk to their children about the dangers of it."
Another neighbor who didn't want to speak on camera with 13News Now said she knew the 15-year-old boy who died through mutual friends.
She said people described him as a kind person and said he had a lot of friends in the Chesapeake High Schools. She added he was set to start his sophomore year this year.
Chesapeake Police said they are actively investigating how exactly the boy fell off the trestle.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Chesapeake Crime Line at 1-888-562-5887, or they can submit a tip online at P3TIPS.COM, or on their smartphone on the P3TIPS APP.