(La Porte County, IN) - A husband and wife found dead at their farm in Wanatah were both electrocuted.
That’s the official ruling in the deaths of Todd and Patricia Rosenbaum, both 60, and fourth-generation owners of Circle R Farm.
La Porte County Coroner Lynn Swanson said the ruling was made following autopsies Monday on each of the bodies. Swanson said the investigation shows Mr. Rosenbaum on Saturday was using a sump pump to transfer water from a creek into a large man-made pond.
She said the pond was for a cabin the Rosenbaum’s planned to have constructed to use as a vacation rental on their property. Swanson said the pump was plugged into a large electrical box about 25 feet from the creek.
The investigation shows Mr. Rosenbaum was in the creek handling the sump pump when his wife sat down along the edge of the creek and put her feet into the water. It wasn’t long before the current powering the pump somehow leaked out, electrifying the water and the Rosenbaum’s.
“When it happened, it got them both,” she said.
Swanson said one of the daughters of the victims unable to reach her parents on their phones went out to the property and discovered the bodies.
Police were unable to locate any exposed wires on the pump, which continues to be examined to see if there might have been a broken seal, perhaps, that would have allowed the electrical current to make contact with the water, she said.
Swanson said emergency responders had the power turned off before retrieving the bodies.
Bill Field, a veteran farm safety expert at Purdue University, said one way the seals can break is if the pumps are dropped.
He said electrocution can also occur if extension cords submerged in water are used to supply power to pumps. Field said just a hairline gap between where the plugs on cords fasten together can allow electricity to leak out into the water.
“Electricity doesn’t need much space if it gets moist,” he said.
Circle R Farm is a small family owned operation raising corn, soybeans, hogs, beef cattle and eggs.
