NATCHEZ — The man killed Tuesday night on U.S. 61 South has been identified as Rueben Riley.

Riley, 42, 47 Emerald Mound Road, had reportedly been visiting someone at a trailer park on the northbound side of the highway. He left the trailer park to walk back into town, Coroner James Lee said Wednesday.

“He was walking alongside the highway,” Lee said. “I don’t know if he drifted inside the highway or not.”

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating the death of the Riley, who was hit by pickup truck in the northbound lane.

Lee said the black male was killed on impact from blunt trauma to the head, neck and chest. Authorities did not have a positive identification of the victim as of 11 p.m. Tuesday.

The accident occurred shortly after 9 p.m.

Sheriff Angie Brown responded to the scene. Brown said first the Adams County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a pedestrian wearing dark clothing was walking in the median on U.S. 61 South. Then, a 911 call came in from a driver saying he had hit a person on the highway, Brown said.

Lee said the pedestrian’s dark clothing made him hard to see.

“The (driver) absolutely did not see him,” Lee said. “It’s just a total tragedy. There was an enormous amount of trauma to his entire body.”

Northbound traffic was diverted to the southbound lane for at least 30 minutes following the accident.

The accident occurred just north of the Kingston Road intersection.