A Lenoir County farmer was killed when his tractor overturned Thursday night.
Robert Nelson Davenport, 74, was found dead under his tractor in a canal full of water on the Jones County side of his property, Lenoir County Sheriff Chris Hill said.
The sheriff said Davenport’s wife, Zelma Davenport, reported him missing at about 10:10 p.m.
“She reported he’d been out cutting the grass on his tractor,” Hill said. “He was last seen about 7:30 p.m.”
At about 9 p.m., his wife began to be concerned about him not coming back to the house and family members began looking for him, Hill said.
Lenoir County deputies began looking for Davenport in the field behind the house in the dark.
“Our deputies found the overturned tractor in the canal,” he said. “It was somewhat difficult to find. It was about three-quarters of a mile back in the field.”
The county line runs through the field, Hill said. Once it was determined the accident occurred over the county line, the incident was turned over to the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
Hill said overturned tractors are not uncommon and happen at least once a year.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “farming accidents do happen from time to time.”
An attempt to reach Jones County Sheriff Danny Heath for comment was unsuccessful.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.