FRANKFORT, Ind. — A central Indiana man died in a lawn mowing accident that left him trapped beneath a riding lawn mower that entered a pond, police said.

Harold Vice, 78, of Frankfort was pronounced dead at the scene Tuesday after Clinton County Sheriff’s deputies discovered him trapped underneath the lawn mower, police said.

Deputies were called to scene about 6:20 p.m. Tuesday to conduct a welfare check on a man who was last seen mowing his yard in the city about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis.

The deputies spotted a helmet and ear protection that Vice was last seen wearing floating in a pond on Vice’s property and then found a lawn mower submerged in its waters. An off-duty deputy entered the pond and discovered Vice’s body trapped under the machine.

“This is a tragic accident. Our thoughts are with the Vice family as they deal with the difficult days and weeks ahead,” Sheriff Rich Kelly said in a statement.