MONROE COUNTY, Ind. — A Lawrence County man died over the weekend when he fell from a tree stand while hunting in Monroe County.
Conservation officers say a hunter found 57-year-old Kevin Leech of Heltonville Saturday after Leech had fallen from a tree stand in Morgan-Monroe State Forest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators say it's unclear why Leech's tree stand malfunctioned, causing him to fall. Officers said Leech wasn't wearing a full-body harness at the time of the accident.
"Conservation Officers remind everyone using elevated platforms to hunt to always wear a full body harness, use a tree stand’s safety rope, never try to put up or remove a tree stand by themself, and to always inspect their tree stand before climbing up into it," Indiana DNR wrote in a release.
An exact cause of Leech's death is pending an autopsy.