WATERVILLE — Police on Friday continued to withhold the name of a man whose body was found Thursday next to the railroad tracks off North Street, saying the state medical examiner’s office has not released a cause of death yet.

“We’ve got no word yet from the medical examiner’s office,” police Chief Joseph Massey said just before 5 p.m. “We’re not going to release his name yet. It’s not suspicious.”

Massey said Thursday that the man appeared to be in his 40s and lived in the Waterville area. On Friday, he said his family had been notified of his death.

Local and state police spent the late morning and early afternoon Thursday investigating the discovery of the body next to the railroad tracks below a bridge abutment on North Street.

Around 11 a.m., police placed yellow tape across North Street at Harris and West streets around the bridge to prohibit drivers and pedestrians from going onto the bridge, where the body was visible below. Massey said at the scene that around 10:55 a.m. police received a report that a male was lying beside the railroad tracks under the North Street overpass and officers responded to the scene. Officials from the state police Criminal Investigation Division arrived around noon to assist local police. The body was lying on its side next to the railroad tracks, facing east.

North Street is a popular street for walkers, runners and bikers. Two women walking across the bridge Thursday morning reportedly saw the body and called police.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

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