CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ind — Officials have recovered the body of a southern Indiana man whose dump truck fell several hundred feet into a pit filled with water while working at a rock quarry.
Indiana conservation officers said divers have found and recovered the employee's body, 69-year-old Bruce Vernon, around noon Wednesday. Authorities said Vernon was found between 20-30 feet of water with the help of a remote operated vehicle (ROV) submersible sonar unit.
Emergency personnel were dispatched to a rock quarry at Mulzer Crushed Stone Inc., near the 20,000 block of Alton Fredonia Road in rural Crawford County, Ind. around 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Vernon was reportedly operating a dump truck weighing several tons near the edge of the pit when the truck slipped over the edge, dropping several hundred feet into the water, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The initial underwater search was delayed due to unsafe conditions and unstable terrain near the pit, officials said.
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