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12-year-old girl, driver die when tractor rolls near Rolfe

‘Just a simple tractor ride, and it just went horribly wrong’

ROLFE — A Rolfe man and a 12-year-old girl were killed in a tractor rollover Saturday evening north of Rolfe.

Glenn Winthers, 46, and the female passenger on the tractor he was driving were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Pocahontas County Sheriff’s office.

The girl was identified as sixth-grader VedaMae Klocke by the Pocahontas Area Community School District, and by her obituary with Powers Funeral Home.

“The driver was over at her parents’ house. The girl wanted a tractor ride,” Pocahontas County Sheriff Brian Larsen said. “Just a simple tractor ride, and it just went horribly wrong.”

The sheriff’s office got a call about the accident just west of Iowa Highway 15 on 430th Street at about 6:40 p.m. Saturday.

Investigation at the scene showed Winthers had lost control of the John Deere tractor, which went into the south ditch and rolled over. Winthers and the passenger were pinned under the tractor, the sheriff’s office said.

The PAC school district will have grief counselors available from 9 a.m. to noon today in the cafeteria at PAC Elementary.

The sheriff’s office was assisted on scene by the Rolfe Fire Department, Pocahontas Ambulance, Pocahontas Police Department, and the medical examiner’s office.

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