For the second time this month a pedestrian has taken their own life by stepping onto the Union Pacific Railroad tracks in Manteca.

According to the Manteca Police Department, officers were dispatched to the location of the railroad crossing on Louise Avenue near the Mayors’ Park subdivision at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday after it was reported that the train had struck a pedestrian.

The woman, according to investigators, reportedly laid down across the railroad tracks and let the train strike her.

Officers searched the area and discovered the body of the woman beneath train approximately 200 feet east of North Airport Way. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to investigators the identity of the woman is not yet known although she is described as a white or Hispanic female believed to be in her 30s. A motive for the incident is not yet known. The case has been turned over the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office for a postmortem examination and identification.

Railroad crossings throughout the community were blocked for an extended period of time while the woman was extracted, and the investigation was carried out.

The incident on Thursday came just over three weeks after a similar event was reported just outside of downtown Manteca where a woman stepped in front of the train, turned her back, and raised her arms before being struck.

That woman, whose family said that she was struggling to get the mental health help that she needed, was described as a “very loving and caring person” who touched the lives of everybody that knew her and had a legacy of helping the homeless and being active in her local church. She left behind two young children.

Prior to October of this year the last suicide on the railroad tracks in Manteca was more than two years ago. After a string of such incidents the City of Manteca worked with Union Pacific to install high fencing throughout the Downtown area to keep pedestrians away from the railroad tracks.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.