A man was found dead on a Jackson Township roadway early Monday morning after a dump truck unknowingly ran over his body, according to authorities.

Officers from the Jackson Township Police Department responded to South Hope Chapel Road near Linda Drive at approximately 2:30 a.m. on June 1 for a report of a motor vehicle crash involving a pedestrian. When officers arrived, they discovered a male lying in the roadway with significant head injuries.

Emergency responders attempted to render aid, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A subsequent investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Jackson Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit determined that a Mack dump truck had been traveling northbound on South Hope Chapel Road when the driver observed what he believed to be debris in the roadway.

Investigators said the driver attempted to avoid the object but then realized it was a human body. Despite his efforts, the truck traveled over the man. The driver immediately stopped and contacted law enforcement.

Authorities said a post-collision examination of the truck found no evidence that the victim had been struck by the front of the vehicle. Instead, investigators determined that the physical evidence was consistent with the truck having run over a body that was already lying in the roadway and dragging it a short distance.

The circumstances surrounding how the man came to be in the roadway remain under investigation. Officials have not yet released the victim’s identity.

The investigation is being conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, the Jackson Township Police Department, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Anyone with information related to the incident is urged to contact the Jackson Township Police Department.