At approximately 4:20 p.m. Friday, the Hubbard County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from Patricia Tinklenberg of 19741 State Highway 64, Akeley, reporting her 9-year-old foster son was found pinned beneath a large garage door.
Upon arrival, responders and officers found out the child, John Garrison Ploof, had returned from a field trip with his foster dad and had apparently gone to an unattached garage to retrieve something.
He attempted to pry up the large garage door, which eventually fell as he was crawling underneath it, causing his death, according to Hubbard County Sheriff Gary Mills.
The 9-year-old was the legal foster child of Elmer and Patricia Tinklenberg.
An autopsy was ordered and scheduled at the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office in St. Paul. Mills said the investigation will continue.
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Responding to the call along with sheriff's deputies were members of the Akeley First Response Unit, Walker Ambulance, North Ambulance, North Memorial Air Care, troopers from the Minnesota State Patrol and personnel from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
