Warning: This story contains the name and images of a deceased Indigenous person.

A cream-coloured stolen car, towel and white box are key to unanswered questions that have lingered in the 37 years since Indigenous teenager Mark Haines was found dead on train tracks.

Haines’ body was found on the tracks south of Tamworth in NSW on the morning of January 16, 1988, not far from the crashed car.

An autopsy showed the Gomeroi teenager died from a traumatic head injury.

The initial police investigation concluded the 17-year-old lay on the tracks either deliberately or in a dazed state, something his family has never believed.

Craigie took part in a traditional smoking ceremony outside the Coroners Court of NSW, in western Sydney, in front of Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame this morning.

Opening the final week of hearings, counsel assisting Chris McGorey outlined the hours before and after Haines’ death.

As a goods train travelled from Werris Creek station to West Tamworth before dawn on January 16, the crew noticed what appeared to be a white box on the tracks, McGorey said.

The train travelled over the box in pouring rain about 5.45am, making a sound like hitting a small animal.

When the crew travelled back to the area on a different train about 6am, the driver got a “fleeting” glimpse of a body in the middle of the tracks but was unable to stop before running over it.

Emergency services soon found Haines’ body with a towel or blanket under his head.

But none of the workers recalled seeing anyone putting it there while recovering his body, McGorey said.

Police also found a light-coloured Torana near the train tracks, its windscreen on the ground, which appeared to have rolled.

The car may have been stolen from a Tamworth home about 3.47am and had boxes of Christmas presents and blankets inside it, McGorey said.

“A number of questions have arisen over the past 37 years,” he told the inquest.

He said the coroner may consider questions including how and why Haines came to be on the tracks, who may have been with him at the time and which of the two trains hit him.

Previous hearings have been told of swirling rumours about several Tamworth locals knowing more about Haines’ death, including friends who were among the last to see him alive.

His close friend Glenn Mannion, who gave evidence at the 1988 inquest, denied any kind of involvement.

“I have no idea what happened to Mark or how he ended up out there,” Mannion said, under questioning at the inquest today.

“100 per cent, absolutely, it was not me.”

The hearings are due to continue into Friday.

For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.