Search for ATV victim took more than an hour

January 20, 2009 - 8:55 PM

WINKLER COUNTY It took more than an hour for rescuers to find the body of a 54-year-old man who was killed Monday afternoon in an ATV accident northeast of Kermit, Winkler County Deputy Chief George Keely said.

Odessa resident Kelly Chapman was found dead at approximately 4 p.m. after crashing his ATV while going down a sand dune. Keely released the crash victim's name Tuesday afternoon.

Keely said Chapman's granddaughter had trouble finding her grandfather's car, where his cell phone was. She had to smash a window open to get it and call for help, and after that she and rescuers had trouble finding Chapman. They almost asked for a helicopter to aid in the search before Chapman's body was found, Keely said.

"She's only been out there twice," he said. "(She) didn't know how to take him back."

Keely added that Chapman's granddaughter checked on him before calling 9-1-1 and saw he wasn't moving.

Chapman's body was taken to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office in Fort Worth for an autopsy. The preliminary results were not released by press time.