JESUP, Ga. (AP) — A movie crew was working on train tracks without permission from the railroad when a freight train crashed into the production team and its equipment, killing one and injuring seven others, a sheriff's investigator said Friday. 
 
 The Savannah-based crew was shooting footage for "Midnight Rider," a film based on the life of singer Gregg Allman, when the crash happened Thursday afternoon. Wayne County sheriff's detectives were working Friday to piece together how and why it happened. 
 
 The deadly collision took place at a railroad trestle that crosses the Altamaha River in the rural county about 60 miles southwest of Savannah. The tracks, owned by CSX Railroad, cross private land owned by forest-products company Rayonier, which has a nearby paper mill. Joe Gardner, the lead detective on the case, said the crew had Rayonier's permission to film on its property next to the train tracks. 
 
 "CSX has told me they were aware they were out there, but they did not have permission to be on the train tracks," Gardner told reporters. 
 
 The train struck and killed a woman identified by the sheriff's department as 27-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Jones of Atlanta. Gardner said he didn't know what job she performed on the film crew. Seven others were injured, one seriously enough to be taken by helicopter to a Savannah hospital. Further information on their conditions was not immediately available Friday. 
 
 Trespassing onto railroad tracks is illegal under Georgia law and punishable as a misdemeanor. 
 
 Production of "Midnight Rider," starring actor William Hurt as the Allman Brothers singer in his later years and All-American rejects vocalist Tyson Ritter as a young Allman, began this month in coastal Georgia. The film is based on Allman's 2012 memoir, "My Cross to Bear," with production based at Meddin Studios in Savannah. 
 
 The film studio Friday referred calls to a Los Angeles publicist, Nadine Jolson, who did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment but emailed a brief statement. 
 
 "All of us on the production team are devastated by the tragic accident that happened today," the studio's statement said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our crew member." 
 
 CSX issued a statement saying the railroad company was "deeply saddened" by the crash and cooperating with investigators. It provided no further details other than to say the train involved was traveling to Savannah from Memphis, Tenn. 
 
 A CSX spokeswoman, Kristin Seay, declined to comment further and would not confirm that film crew had no permission from the railroad to be working on the train tracks. 
 
 Authorities provided few details about the collision. Gardner said it wasn't clear if crew members were actually on the trestle bridging the river or just on the tracks at the river's edge. He said the train smashed some of the crew's equipment, and it's possible some of the injuries were caused by flying debris. Among the items found on the tracks was what appeared to be a mattress for a bed, Gardner said. 
 
 It also wasn't clear if the film crew was waiting to film a train or was caught unaware by one approaching, Gardner said. 
 
 "That's a very active train track," he said. "There's probably anywhere from up to 10 trains a day that go through on those tracks." ||||| A movie about Greg Allman will proceed following the Thursday death of a filming crew member, despite earlier indications to the contrary, Deadline reports. 
 
 "The company says it still plans to release the picture in the U.S. but does not have a release date set," it reported Friday, following earlier reports indicating Open Road Films would withdraw from the project. 
 
 Sarah Elizabeth Jones, 27, of Atlanta was fatally struck by a train while working as a member of Savannah-based Meddin Studios on the movie, "Midnight Rider." 
 
 Meddin released a statement: "Our hearts are heavy today, as we continue to keep the entire crew, as well as their families, in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you for doing the same." 
 
 Wayne County Sheriff’s Det. Joe Gardner initially told WTOC in Savannah that the department would investigate the death as a homicide. 
 
 "We treat any suspicious type of thing or serious accident as a homicide until we prove otherwise," he said. "And that reasoning is always, I guess, to ensure that we err on the side of caution." 
 
 In its most recent statement about the incident, the department said "This investigation is ongoing and CSX Railroad personnel, Rayonier Mill personnel, and the film crew personnel are all cooperating in the investigation. Due to the ongoing investigation no further information can be released at this time." 
 
 CSX has released a statement of condolences that said the company "is cooperating fully with authorities as they investigate." 
 
 Rayonier spokesman Russell Schweiss told the AJC that while the film crew had been granted permission to access its property for the film shoot, they were on a CSX train trestle which is not part of the mill's property. 
 
 "Our hearts go out ot the family of the victims," he said. 
 
 A South Carolina native, Jones was a beloved member of Atlanta's growing yet tight-knit film community. 
 
 Melissa Rutland, who has worked as an actress, stand-in/double and crew member on various area projects, posted a photo of herself with her late friend and a beautiful tribute: 
 
 "Sarah, you will be missed dearly. Your smile and love for life...your daily ambition to make others smile...will be remembered as long as we live. You touched us all and today we work in your memory...enjoy the beauty of your new Heavenly Home as I know the angels will enjoy having your beautiful self there." ||||| 2ND UPDATE, 12:30 PM: The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office said today that the victim’s name is Sarah Elizabeth Jones from Atlanta. The investigation is ongoing, with railroad and film crew personnel cooperating. Here’s the official statement just released about the incident: 
 
 Sheriff John Carter reports that on 02/20/2014 at approximately 4:30pm Deputies of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office along with other emergency personnel responded to a call of a train hitting persons on the Doctortown train trestle. Deputies arrived to find that there were several people from Open Road films and the Meddin Studios from Savannah, Georgia filming a movie called Midnight Rider in the area and had gotten onto the train tracks. A north bound train struck some of these persons. There was one fatality and seven others injured. One of the injured was flown to a Savannah hospital while others were taken to Wayne Memorial Hospital for treatment. The fatality was a 27 year old white female from Atlanta, Georgia. Her name is Sarah Elizabeth Jones. This investigation is ongoing and CSX Railroad personnel, Rayonier Mill personnel, and the film crew personnel are all cooperating in the investigation. Due to the ongoing investigation no further information can be released at this time. 
 
 UPDATE, 9:10 AM: Open Road Films says it is not pulling out of the Gregg Allman biopic Midnight Rider: The Gregg Allman Story, despite information Deadline was told to the contrary by those involved with the film. According to spokesman Liz Biber, the company says it still plans to release the picture in the U.S. but does not have a release date set. We were told that the distributor was close to announcing its plans to pull out before yesterday’s tragic accident during production in Wayne County, GA, in which one female crew member was killed and seven others were injured when they were hit by a train while filming. So time will tell. 
 
 Detective Joe Gardner of the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department told Deadline that the crew was on the tracks filming a scene in Jesup, GA yesterday at about 4 PM local time and couldn’t get out of the way in time when a CSX train travelling from Memphis to Savannah arrived unexpectedly. The 27-year-old woman, who Variety reported was the second camera assistant, was killed after trying to remove a mattress from the tracks, and it did have permission to shoot in the location, Gardner said during a press conference yesterday. The 20-person crew was from Savannah, GA-based Meddin Studios. “All of us on the production team are devastated by the tragic accident that happened today,” the production said in a release sent late last night. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our crew member.” 
 
 Allman wrote the 2013 autobiography My Cross To Bear on which the film is based. Tyson Ritter, William Hurt, Wyatt Russell, Zoey Deutch, Chad Lindberg and Charles S. Dutton star in the pic, which Randall Miller is directing. Miller co-wrote the script with Jody Savin, who is also producing. Allman and his manager Michael Lehman are executive producing.
– A movie crew shooting a film about the life of singer Gregg Allman was hit by a train this week in Jesup, Georgia, killing one crew member and injuring seven others, the AP reports. The crew was working on the tracks without permission on Thursday afternoon—either on the trestle that bridges the Altamaha River or on the river's edge—when a train hit the crew and their equipment, killing 27-year-old Sarah Jones. One other crew member was hurt seriously enough to be flown to a hospital in Savannah. The crew had an arrangement with the railway, CSX Railroad, but didn't have permission to film on the tracks, said the top detective on the case. He told WTOC that the investigation will be considered a homicide for now, "to ensure that we err on the side of caution." The Open Roads Films project—Midnight Rider, starring William Hurt—will still be released but there's no release date just yet, Deadline reports. Meanwhile, messages and tweets are emerging that grieve for Jones' tragic death, reports AccessAtlanta. "Sarah, you will be missed dearly," wrote an actress who has worked with her. "Your smile and love for life ... your daily ambition to make others smile ... will be remembered as long as we live."