Iowa and Midwest News for the Day - Cisterns, Water Wells and 911 Calls

An elderly woman somehow fell into a well located on her farm and drowned. The Sheriff’s investigation concluded she stepped on the lid, which was very old, it crumpled, giving way and she fell in. This issue has also been covered on this blog. Recall the 4-year-old boy who allegedly moved a 14 pound concrete septic tank lid; I disagreed and opined the lid may have simply flipped after he stood on it. Can a 4-year-old boy move a 14 pound concrete septic tank lid?

Can a 4-year-old boy move a 14 pound concrete septic tank lid?

Could a four year old really move a 14 lb. lid by himself? That is just one of the questions surrounding the death of Wyatt Smitsky who was last seen playing with his two young sisters before his disappearance sparked an 18 hour search. His body was eventually found September 5^th after searchers drained a septic tank on a property near his home in Greene Township. The district attorney is saying that it is possible that somehow 4 year old Wyatt moved the tanks lid by himself, what do you think?

The law has always fascinated me; trial work especially. One fact can change your entire perception of why or how something happened. In this case we don't know what happened but as a trial lawyer with 30 years of interviews and investigations my mind can't help but play with the possible scenarios. In this case what if the lid were just a little off center, (open just a little) the child fell in and then the owner seeing the lid, simply pushed it back into place? If that is the case then we have a whole different outcome.

Here is a second explanation that is from the bottom video tape. What if the lid wasn't secured, the boy stepped onto it, the lid flipped, the boy falls in and the lid then flips back into place? Possible? Absolutely, watch the video below.

If you have such a tank, test the lid and then secure it.

So the question remains, how did the young lad get into the bottom of the septic tank?

Here a 70+ year-old fell into a septic tank.

 

Here is another 4-year-old who was pulled from a septic tank.

Septic Tank Hazards are well known - Here the lid flipped open as the boy stepped onto it.

Did this 4-year-old boy really move a cement cistern lid?

Could a four year old really move a 14 lb. lid by himself? That is just one of the questions surrounding the death of Wyatt Smitsky who was last seen playing with his two young sisters before his disappearance sparked an 18 hour search. His body was eventually found September 5^th after searchers drained a septic tank on a property near his home in Greene Township. The district attorney is saying that it is possible that somehow 4 year old Wyatt moved the tanks lid by himself, what do you think?

The law has always fascinated me; trial work especially. One fact can change your entire perception of why or how something happened. In this case we don't know what happened but as a trial lawyer with 30 years of interviews and investigations my mind can't help but play with the possible scenarios. In this case what if the lid were eschewed, the child fell in and then the owner seeing the lid, simply pushed it back into place? If that is the case then we have a whole different outcome.

Here is a second explanation that is from the bottom video tape. What if the lid wasn't secured, the boy stepped onto it, the lid flipped, the boy falls in and the lid then flips back into place? Possible? Absolutely, watch the video below.

If you have such a tank, test the lid and then secure it.

So the question remains, how did the young lad get into the bottom of the septic tank?

Here a 70+ year-old fell into a septic tank.

Here is another 4-year-old who was pulled from a septic tank.

Septic Tank Hazards are well known - Here the lid flipped open as the boy stepped onto it.

Check the lid; secure it and save a life.