A Lee County Man is dead following a Saturday farm accident.
Investigators believe that 73 year old Daniel Joseph Mertens of Salem may have been trying to jump start his tractor with a screwdriver when the tractor slipped into gear, knocking Mertens to the ground, and running him over, killing him.
A screwdriver was found in tire tracks nearby.
A passerby notices that the tractor was spinning, driverless, in the middle of the field at 1087 140th Avenue with a plow attached. The passerby managed to jump in the tractor and cut it’s engine. They discovered Mertens body lying in the field.
