Girl, 4, killed in Indiana farm accident

WAWAKA, Ind. (WANE) – A child was killed after being struck by a skid loader she fell from at a northern Noble County property midday Monday. 

Police and medics were called around 1:15 p.m. to property in the 7600 block of North County Road 175 East, south of Rome City, on a report of a farm accident. The caller told authorities that a child had been struck by a farm implement in a field and the child did not appear to be breathing, according to a Noble County Sheriff’s Department report. 

Dispatchers helped the caller perform CPR on the child until a Noble County emergency medical services unit arrived.

“Unfortunately the child’s injuries were too severe and the child was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the report said.

The sheriff’s department said Wednesday that the girl — identified as 4-year-old Alivea L. Kurtz of Wawaka — had been riding in the bucket of a skid loader when she fell out and was struck by the machinery.

An autopsy showed the girl died of blunt force trauma, the sheriff’s department said.

The sheriff’s department said the child’s death remains under investigation.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to raise money for the girl’s family for her funeral expenses. As of 4 p.m., it had raised $9,130 of a $10,000 goal.

Wawaka is 110 miles northeast of Indianapolis.