A sad ending to an already sad story.

The body of a dog, believed to be the one struck by an MBTA commuter train last week was reportedly found on Dead Horse Beach in Salem Monday morning.

At 11:30 a.m., officers received word that a Salem resident taking his dog for a morning walk on the beach found a dead dog along the shoreline. 

The dog, he told police, was still wearing a collar with a red bow on it - but it didn't have any identification tags.

The owner was reportedly notified by the local animal control officer.

Rail passengers riding the MBTA's Newbury/Rockport line on Jan. 2 experienced some delays out of Salem after the animal was reportedly run over on the train tracks.

At 7:45 p.m., police received word that a dog that had been running into traffic in Beverly was making its way across the Veterans Memorial Bridge into Salem.

Salem police Lt. Mary Butler said one of the reporting parties told police that a person who was chasing the dog over the bridge ended up jumping out onto the train tracks after it - so local officers held up train traffic while they searched the area for the person believed to have been in pursuit.

The dog was reportedly struck somewhere between the Veterans Memorial Bridge and the train depot.