Callisburg grad loses life in electrical accident

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Callisburg High School graduate Colton Bentley died Thursday in an accident on a ranch near Mustang, Okla. Courtesy photo

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September 8, 2012

Callisburg grad loses life in electrical accident

By GREG RUSSELL, Register Staff Writer Gainesville Daily Register The Daily Register Sat Sep 08, 2012, 10:53 AM CDT

Mustang, Okla. — MUSTANG, OKLA. — Oklahoma City officials reported Friday that the death of Colton Bentley, 18, a recent Callisburg High School graduate, was the apparent result of electrocution caused by a severed power cord.

Lt. Jay Barnett of the Oklahoma City Police Department said Bentley’s father Howard discovered his son’s body aside a barn on his ranch property near Mustang, Okla., shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday, and called authorities.

“His father went out and found him collapsed,” Barnett said. “And when he touched him, he realized there was current still running through him at that point.

Then he was able to determine how he was killed.”

Barnett said an initial investigation showed that at an unknown time early Thursday, Colton Bentley had walked to the barn during an incoming storm and tried to shut its sliding door.

The sheet metal door, he said, was at rest near a live extension cord when he grabbed and moved it.

“He slid it across an extension cord, partially severed the cord and was electrocuted,” Barnett said.

But Barnett added that though Howard Bentley called authorities early Thursday morning, this doesn’t pinpoint an official time of his son’s death.

“We’re still in the process of determining how long the young man might have been out there prior to being discovered,” he said.

Obituary information included details about Colton Bentley’s life.

As a Callisburg High School student, he was active in agriculture; he belonged to Future Farmers of America and showed cattle with the Texas Junior Livestock Association and Red Angus Association.

The obituary cited Buchanan Cattle Co., a business in Mustang, as his place of employment when killed.

Bentley was also a noted football player. Callisburg Independent School District Superintendent Steve Clugston said he met Bentley at the school shortly after his tenure began during the spring, and found him engaging.

“I could call him by name and he knew me,” Clugston said Friday. “He was one of those kids who always came up and shook my hand — a good young man, and I hate to see his life cut so short. In my short time with him, he always had a smile on his face and was eager to greet you.”

The superintendent added that Bentley’s mother Amy worked in the district’s food service department for several years, and that Friday’s report of Colton Bentley’s death brought grief to the campus.

“It’s tragic and nothing prepares you for it,” he said. “All you can do is pray for God to come in and help those who are struggling.”

Funeral services are set for 2 p.m. today at Geo. J. Carroll & Son Funeral Home Chapel in Gainesville.

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Callisburg grad loses life in electrical accident

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