Authorities Say Foul Play Is Not Suspected In Mysterious Death Of Black High School Football Player Killed By Train

Authorities say foul play isn’t suspected in the death of a young black football player who attended a mostly white school, even though the train conductor says Matt Thomas was laying face down in the tracks when he was hit!!! Thomas’ body was found Sunday after being run over by a train.

Vidor football player Matt Thomas died from massive injuries to his head and spine, according to a preliminary autopsy report released today.

Justice of the Peace Derry Dunn said that the 18-year-old sustained cranial cerebral injuries with a broken neck. Thomas was found by investigators Sunday morning after he was hit by a train in the 2000 block of East Old 90 on the Kansas City Southern railroad tracks.

Dunn said it is unclear if Thomas was already dead before his body was found on the tracks, but he said that no bullet or stab wounds were on the teen’s body.

The results of the toxicology test will be available in 6 to 8 weeks, Dunn said.

He also said that the train engineer saw Thomas lying in between the rails of the tracks with his head facing the direction the train was traveling. The engineer put on the brakes, but it took a quarter of a mile for the train to come to a complete stop. Thomas’s body was found underneath the train.

There is no suspicion of foul play as of now, Dunn said. It is still unclear why Thomas was lying down on the tracks.

“You hate to see young people killed before they get to live their life especially someone who was a good young man and liked by lots of people,” Dunn said. “It’s always a mystery about why these types of things happen.”

This is really tragic. Our prayers go out to this young man’s friends and family. Still, something seems really fishy about this incident.

We received a call telling us about Matt’s death and it seems like some blacks in the area believe Thomas may have been the victim of a hate crime that was covered up by leaving his body on the train tracks. He was a young black kid at a mostly white school and from what we’ve seen of photos from Matt’s school, he was well-liked, but that doesn’t mean everyone felt the same way. We hope investigators will take a long hard look at this case because right now things just aren’t adding up.

For those Bossip readers in the area — what do you know about Vidor? Have there been other incidents in the past involving the trains/train tracks? Are there a lot of issues with racism there? This young man is gone far too soon and we hope people keep asking questions because it doesn’t make sense that a kid who seemed to have everything going for himself would end up mysteriously dead.

R.I.P. Matt Thomas

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