A steam-powered Southern Railway locomotive chugged across a trestle over Pope Lick Road and Pope Lick Creek near Jeffersontown, Ky., in this undated photo.(Photo: Robert Steinau, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal)
JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Two young Ohio tourists, searching for the mythical<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Pope Lick Trestle monster, saw a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>train barreling their way with no time to run.
Safety was about 40 feet away, but Roquel Bain, 26, and her boyfriend didn't have time to make it off the train trestle Saturday night. He dangled from the edge of the bridge over Pope Lick Creek about 20 miles from downtown<span style="color: Red;">*</span>until the train could pass, but she didn't make it.
A Norfolk Southern<span style="color: Red;">*</span>train fatally<span style="color: Red;">*</span>struck Bain, who then<span style="color: Red;">*</span>was knocked more than<span style="color: Red;">*</span>80<span style="color: Red;">*</span>feet to the ground below.
Jeffersontown fire officials rescued the boyfriend, whose name has not been released, after he climbed back on top of the trestle, near the 3100 block of South Pope Lick Road, officials said.
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Bain was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:39 p.m. ET
"It’s just so sad, a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>very pretty young girl who had her life in front of her," <span style="color: Red;">*</span>deputy coroner Jack Arnold said. "It's just so preventable."
“It’s just so sad, a very pretty young girl who had her life in front of her. It's just so preventable.”
Jack Arnold, Louisville Coroner's Office
In her purse, investigators found a work badge that indicated she had worked as a surgical assistant.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>They<span style="color: Red;">*</span>found<span style="color: Red;">*</span>no signs that the couple had been drinking or abusing drugs, but toxicology tests on the victim are pending, he said.
"There's nothing to indicate foul play," said a<span style="color: Red;">*</span><span style="color: Red;">*</span>Louisville Metro Police Department spokeswoman,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Alicia Smiley.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Homicide detectives are investigating.
The train engineer told officials his speed was 32 mph when he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>saw the couple, sounded the horn and tried to brake, Arnold said. Investigators will review the train's video footage.
The boyfriend told officials he and Bain came to town from Dayton, Ohio, for a paranormal tour scheduled from 10 p.m. to midnight Saturday.
Brandon Barnes, a security guard at Waverly Hills Sanatorium, said Bain had purchased two tickets online for $25 each for Saturday night's guided tour, which 45 ghost hunters attended.
Bain and her boyfriend decided to spend time beforehand hunting for the Pope Lick monster, the subject of an urban legend and popularized in YouTube<span style="color: Red;">*</span>videos;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a 1988 film, The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster; and a 2013 episode of Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America.
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The deputy coroner said he personally has investigated a handful of fatal train incidents that ranged from a homeless person falling asleep on the tracks, to a thrill seeker misjudging the time he had to get off the tracks<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to someone committing suicide. He said this is the first victim confirmed searching for the monster, said to be part man, goat and sheep that lives beneath the trestle.
During his investigation, Arnold said he has learned that the area is popular with teens and young adults —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>especially on New Year's.
One Instagram photo from 2014, which received 188 likes, shows<span style="color: Red;">*</span>an Eastern High School graduate and a friend with their legs dangling off the trestle and proclaiming, "The Pope Lick Monster didn't get us, but a train almost did!"
Follow Beth Warren on Twitter:<span style="color: Red;">*</span>@BethWarrenCJ
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