A man’s body was found on the side of railroad tracks Tuesday near Military and Black Creek roads north of Columbus.
Coroner Greg Merchant identified the man as Marty Atkins, 62.
A train engineer found the body at about 2:30 p.m. beside a fallen deer stand near the tracks, Merchant said. The engineer called 911 and Lowndes County sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene.
Merchant estimated Atkins died Tuesday morning, apparently of natural causes.
“He had some diagnosed medical issues that were untreated,” Merchant said. “… With the heat, it kind of speeds up your markers and indicators. So if he’d been deceased for very long, we would have seen more decomposition.”
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said the man’s body was found behind the old Black Creek Grocery, about 300 yards down the tracks north of the road and off the railroad’s property. In a text message, Merchant said he believes Atkins was living out there after a fire in the home where he had been staying.
Hawkins confirmed that there is no foul play suspected, but he is still waiting on official results from the coroner’s office.
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