By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
A Morris man tending to a sugar bush on his family's farm in New Lisbon died Friday when his four-wheeler rolled on top of him, according to the Otsego County Sheriff's Department.
Dale L. Parker, 68, was using a device attached to his ATV to spray for tent caterpillars along the sap lines for his maple syrup business when the four-wheeler flipped sometime in the late afternoon, deputies said in a media release.
When Parker, who lived alone on Pegg Road in Morris, failed to turn up at a medical appointment in Oneonta on Saturday morning, his family reported him missing, Sheriff Richard Devlin said Sunday.
The Otsego County 911 Center received the missing persons report at 7:52 a.m. and deputies were dispatched.
Family members also began looking for Parker after his vehicle was found at the New Lisbon farm. As a deputy was on his way to the farm, the 911 center received a second call saying Parker had been found dead under an ATV, deputies said.
Parker was found by his brother, Devlin said.
Devlin said it appears Parker had attempted to drive over a downed tree when he was ejected from the ATV, which rolled on top of him.
The pesticide sprayer was attached to the rear of the four-wheeler and it is not known if the 16-gallon tank played any role in the accident.
"It's possible, we don't know how full it was at the time," Devlin said.
The sheriff said it will probably never be known exactly what happened.
"It appears to be a tragic accident," he said.
Devlin said that it does not appear that any pre-existing medical conditions contributed to Parker's death, which an autopsy Sunday showed was caused by injuries suffered in the initial accident.
Parker's body, which was found about half a mile into the woods, was recovered by the sheriff's department's 6-x-4, off-road utility vehicle.
His maple syrup business was known as The Sugar Shack, according to his obituary.
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