Indiana Man Dies in Freak Accident After Falling Into Manure Lagoon

An Indiana man died after falling into a manure lagoon at a dairy farm while installing new farm equipment.

Gordon Van Baren, 30, went missing the morning of Nov. 14 around 8:30 a.m. while working with someone else on the farm to install new equipment, Coroner Andrew Boersma tells inside Edition Digital. 

The other person left the area and when they came back they noticed the farm equipment had moved and they could no longer see Van Baren.

They then contacted authorities, says Boersma.

The local fire department located and extracted Van Baren at 12:44 p.m. from the manure lagoon, Boersman.

The coroner reported the cause of death as exsanguination, or blood loss. 

Blood loss occurred due to the femoral artery in Van Baren's leg being severed, the coroner says. Despite being found hours later, Van Baren died “almost instantaneously” after the artery was severed. 

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