NEWFANE – The Newfane man who was found dead at the base of a tree under a stand he had set up in the tree for hunting has been identified as Donald E. Geist, 52, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office reported today.
Sheriff James R. Voutour said dispatchers received a 911 call from a cellphone at about 7:30 p.m. about a man having fallen from a tree in the woods east of Coomer Road.
The caller said the man had gone into the woods to set up a tree stand for hunting, but when Geist did not return home after several hours, two friends went to look for him and found him severely injured at the base of a tree. They called 911.
Dispatchers used a GPS signal from the cellphone to direct sheriff’s deputies and firefighters from Miller Hose and Wrights Corners to the accident scene in the woods, the sheriff said.
Geist was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although it appeared to be an accident, the death is being investigated, the sheriff said.
Sheriff James R. Voutour said dispatchers received a 911 call from a cellphone at about 7:30 p.m. about a man having fallen from a tree in the woods east of Coomer Road.
The caller said the man had gone into the woods to set up a tree stand for hunting, but when Geist did not return home after several hours, two friends went to look for him and found him severely injured at the base of a tree. They called 911.
Dispatchers used a GPS signal from the cellphone to direct sheriff’s deputies and firefighters from Miller Hose and Wrights Corners to the accident scene in the woods, the sheriff said.
Geist was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although it appeared to be an accident, the death is being investigated, the sheriff said.