A Van Buren man died over the weekend after becoming stuck in the window of his camper at a Baxter County campground.
The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 66-year-old David Leon Smith, who was camping at the Quarry Campground below the Norfork Dam. According to an incident report from the sheriff’s office, a passerby called 911 early Saturday morning to report a man hanging from a camper window.
When deputies arrived, they found Smith with the lower half of his body hanging outside the camper and an overturned walker near his feet. The camper was locked, and it appeared Smith had used the walker as a step to try to climb through the window after being locked out.
Deputies determined Smith had no pulse. Paramedics who arrived at the scene confirmed he was unresponsive, and Baxter County Coroner Sam Seamans pronounced him dead.
The report indicated that Smith’s lower body was suspended outside the camper while the upper half was pinned across the windowsill. Officials concluded the weight and angle of his body caused significant downward pressure on his upper torso and diaphragm, restricting his ability to breathe.
Coroner Seamans ruled the death was accidental and confirmed the cause as positional asphyxiation.