Columbus police have identified three people who were found dead following a traffic crash near a West Side railroad crossing early Friday.

Ryan D. Riley and Johnny J. Collins, both 35 and of the West Side, and Glenn H. Featherstone Jr., 58, of the South Side, were found lying outside of an SUV early Friday morning, according to a news release from the Columbus Division of Police accident investigation unit.

A passerby called 911 at 7:28 a.m. to report the bodies and a badly mangled 2007 GMC Yukon SUV next to the railroad tracks, near the intersection of McKinley Avenue and Trabue Road. All three men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the SUV had been traveling north on McKinley Avenue when it went off the side of the road just south of Trabue Road and rolled several times. None of the occupants was wearing a seat belt and all three were thrown from the SUV, which ended up just west of the railroad tracks between a construction site and a wooded area.

The position of the vehicle and occupants gave the appearance that the SUV had been hit by a train, but Norfolk Southern Railroad officials report that no train has used those tracks in several weeks, police said.

TRIPLE FATAL ACCIDENT-NEWS RELEASE: 2/15/19 ‘07 GMC Yukon traveling nb on McKinley Ave. south of Trabue Rd. left the right side of McKinley-rolled several times-ejecting all 3 occupants not wearing seatbelts.

Ryan D. Riley (35)

Johnny J. Collins (35)

Glenn H. Featherston Jr. (58) pic.twitter.com/GtOU4Xyrcz

— Columbus Ohio Police (@ColumbusPolice) February 15, 2019

A large amount of cash was found on the ground and floating through the air at the scene of the crash, a dispatcher said.

Sgt. Brooke Wilson, with the Police Division's accident investigation unit, said speed likely was a factor in the crash because the SUV ended up "100 to 130 yards" from where it left the road.

McKinley Avenue curves to the left as the road approaches Trabue, and investigators believe the SUV's driver didn't make the turn and left the road, Wilson said.

Investigators are not certain how fast the SUV was going when it crashed.

pcooley@dispatch.com

@PatrickACooley