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Last updated on Thursday, January 14, 2010
(LOOGOOTEE, IN) - Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating the water-related death of a 38-year-old Loogootee man.
According to police, Donald C. Venters and his father were logging wood off of Haw Creek Road, along the east fork of the White River in Martin County during the mid-afternoon, this past Tuesday.
A log skidder, which is a tractor type vehicle with a caged cab used for loading timber, entered the river on it's side trapping Venters inside while he operated the machine.
Venter's father, who was working nearby, jumped into the river in an attempt to rescue his son from the waters but could not get the cab door open due to a broken latch.
The man then drove to a nearby residence to call for help.
The Martin County Sheriff's Department, the Haysville Volunteer Fire Department, the Martin County Civil Defense, and Indiana Conservation Officers soon arrived at the scene.
A Haysville diver and Indiana Conservation Officer diver pulled the victim from the cab after being trapped under water for nearly 40 minutes.
The victim was then transported to Jasper Memorial Hospital by Martin County ambulance services.
According to Dubois County Coroner Tony Matthews, Donald Venters died at the hospital about five hours after being pulled from the river.
The accident is still under investigation.
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