Police in Lancaster County say Josiah Martin was playing with two siblings and a neighbor child on the farm just outside New Holland when he apparently wandered off and was later found face-down in the 8-foot-deep pit. Police say they were called just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officer Troy Deshong says it isn't clear how the child gained access to the pit, which is 42 feet in diameter and surrounded by a chain-link fence. He told the (Lancaster) Sunday News that the mother speculated that he may have been trying to retrieve a dog.
Lancaster County Chief Deputy Coroner Eric Bieber called the case "a tragic accident."
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Information from: Intelligencer Journal
