LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) -- A Greeley, Colo., man died when the excavation machine he was driving fell into an ice-covered retaining pond in Laramie.
The Laramie Police Department says 42-year-old Tracy J. Whitehouse was driving the excavator at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday when it tipped on its side. The operator's cab broke through 8 inches of ice and was submerged into mud and water.
Searchers first tried to locate Whitehouse in the cab but couldn't find him. A water rescue team found his body in the pond about 5 hours later.
Laramie police spokesman Mitchell Cushman says the body was about 5 feet from the cab's escape hatch and trapped under the ice.
Whitehouse was working for JD Enterprises of Windsor, Colo.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM