Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
PARMER COUNTY — Preliminary autopsy results show a local teenager found buried in a cotton module on Wednesday night died from asphyxiation, Parmer County Sheriff Randy Geries said on Friday.
Geries said the death appears to be accidental and is “not a criminal matter at this time.”
The 15-year-old Bailey County boy appears to have climbed unnoticed into a cotton module builder. The sheriff declined to speculate on reasons he may have been inside.
Geries said he would not release the teen’s name on advice of the county attorney’s office.
Geries said the boy lived in Bailey County and was working with his parents’ permission in the cotton field located in south-central Parmer County.
“He had been building modules for some time, so he had experience,” Geries said.
Other workers realized the boy was missing several hours before they found him dead inside the module about 10 p.m. Wednesday.
Geries said his office notified Occupational Safety Health Administration about the death, but he did not believe any labor laws had been violated.
An OSHA spokeswoman on Friday declined to answer questions about the incident.
