CHARLEVOIX COUNTY (WWJ) - A 73-year-old man is dead in a tragic farm accident on Thursday after the tractor he appeared to be working on ran him over, authorities said.
Michigan State Police said troopers from their Gaylord Post were called out to a farm in Melrose Township on Thursday, May 11th, near Boyne City in Northern Michigan.
When troopers arrived at the scene, they located an unresponsive man on the ground with multiple injuries. An International tractor with a John Deere planter were discovered crashed in woods about 200 yards away.
According to an initial investigation by MSP, a step stool and a set of tools were laying next to the body, leading troopers to believe the man was working on the tractor and trying to get it to start when it ran him over.
Troopers identified the deceased as James Sterly, 73, of Petoskey.