Man Dies in Indiana Manure Pit

A Wheatfield, Indiana man is dead after a piece of farm equipment he was operating tipped over and slid into a 10 by 12 foot manure pit at Windy Ridge Dairy in Fair Oaks, pinning 30 year old Gordon Van Baren below the surface. It happened Monday morning just before 9 at the farm on North County Road 1100 West in Fair Oaks. Authorities say his body was not recovered until just before 1 in the afternoon and only after they drained the pit and brought in a grappling hook to locate Van Baren buried in the muck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No word on why the piece of equipment slid into the pit.