14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-No record of elevator that child was killed in

No record of elevator that child was killed in

By Becky Graham - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email

UNION, CO., KY (WFIE) - KSP said autopsy results on eight-year-old Zachary Waddell showed he died of compression asphyxiation after becoming lodged between the elevator and the wall shaft.

The young boy was killed in a church elevator at his grandmother's wedding.

It happened at First Christian Church in Sturgis, Kentucky.

Investigators said the state fire marshal's office had no record of an elevator at First Christian Church in Sturgis. 

After an inspection Tuesday, state police said the elevator was locked and placed out of service while the investigation continues.

It was supposed to be a happy day for Zachary Waddell's grandmother, but the wedded bliss was cut short when the eight-year-old boy was found stuck in the church elevator.

"I am speechless," Sturgis resident Angie Walters said. "It's a hard thing to comprehend."

Typically, the town of Sturgis is quiet, but on Saturday night that changed.

"The elevator, it appears, it went to the top," Union County Coroner Stephen Shouse said. "On the way back down, he leaned out a door and was looking down and caught a wall and the top of the elevator came on down and trapped it between the elevator itself and the wall."

After the wedding, he wandered off and around 8:00 p.m. he was found unresponsive and pronounced dead.

"There was very small space in between there and he suffered," Shouse said. "Asphyxiate was the cause of his death."

So, what really happened inside that elevator?

Kentucky State Police are investigating, but the coroner did say the elevator was built it the early 60's and was manufactured to carry freight, not people.

"The safety devices on the elevator weren't working properly which was a contributor in the boys death I am sure of it," Shouse said.

While family and friends of the eight-year-old struggle to find answers, Sturgis reaches out.

"I haven't lived here that long and I didn't know who they were or anything, but my heart goes out to them, it does," Walters said. "I feel so bad for them."

Zachary's Funeral is set for Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. at Whitsell Funeral Home in Sturgis. Visitation is Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Zach Waddell Memorial Fund is set up at United Community Bank.

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