WILKINSON — A Greenfield businessman died from blunt-force trauma when the tree he was cutting fell on top of him Monday afternoon, officials said.
Robert “Ted” Smith, 70, of Wilkinson, was in a wooded area behind his home chopping wood when the tree he was working under split in half, falling onto him and killing him instantly, said Hancock County Deputy Coroner Rudy Nylund.
Smith, who owned Smith Implements, a tractor dealership located on East Main Street in Greenfield, enjoyed chopping wood as a way to exercise, family members said.
He headed out into the woods Monday afternoon and had been missing for nearly five hours when his wife decided to call 911, officials said.
A neighbor found Smith’s body just before 9 p.m., according to dispatch records.