[FEB. 25, 2006]
MIDDLETOWN --
A retired farmer from rural Middletown went out to burn off field
rows and waterways on his property yesterday afternoon but did not
return. Seventy-one-year-old Donald Roy Boward went out around 4
p.m. on Thursday, a friend told authorities. She was worried when he
had not returned yet at 11 p.m., but she saw flames in the field and
knew he wouldn't come in as long as the fire was not out.
However, when she woke in the wee hours of the morning, the fires
were out and he still had not returned. She went out to check on
him. When she found his truck and called for him, he did not respond
and she called 911.
Logan County Emergency Management Agency
personnel joined Logan County Sheriff's Department searching for
him. A sheriff's department deputy located the body at 3:40 a.m.
Logan Coroner Bob Thomas said that an autopsy was conducted in
Springfield on Friday morning. No foul play was suspected, and Dr.
Hindman was able to say from the autopsy that Boward's death was
from natural causes and not from the fire, as there was no soot
found in his airways.
