GARRET GRIFFIN - 14 yo (2010) - Montezuma (W of Indianapolis) IN

It's obvious even from Garret Griffin's school photo that he loved the outdoors. The 14-year-old was a 7th grade student at North Vermillion Jr/Sr High School.

"He was a special kid," said Griffin's grandmother Kathy Turner. "He loved the outdoors. I mean you couldn't hardly keep him in the house ever since he was walking." Turner said Garret was planning to shoot coyotes using a tripod-style hunting stand in a relative's cornfield near Montezuma in Parke County Thursday night. Somehow the gun went off and shot him in the head. Conservation officers believe Garret either fell out of the seat or fell when climbing. Because his family thought he was staying with another relative, no one realized he was missing until early Friday afternoon. Garret's 14-year-old cousin raced back to the field on an ATV followed by their grandmother. "As soon as I heard him start up the 4-wheeler coming back, I had a really bad feeling," said Turner. She immediately called an ambulance but it was hours too late. She still won't go up to the field. "I think he's taking it pretty rough, pretty hard," said Turner. "I think we are all in shock yet." Turner will always remember Garret as a little man. Even at 14, fully grown men would get his help to fix power tools. "He could fix it in no time at all," said Turner. "It never mattered how old it was or what, he would fix their lawnmowers, chainsaws. He was really good at that. But most of all, she will just miss Garret calling her up, asking for a ride to her house, so he could spend time with family in the great outdoors. "There's a lot of things I will miss," said Turner. "He will be missed a lot." Griffin is survived by his mother and father and an older brother. The family is currently making arrangements for Griffin's funeral. North Vermillion schools are currently on Fall Break. Schools Superintendent Michael Turner said grief counselors will be available for students and staff to speak with on Monday. Visitation for Garret Griffin will be held Monday evening from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Brown Funeral Home in Montezuma.
His funeral will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home.

An investigation continues into how a Vermillion County teenager died while hunting Friday in a Parke County field.

Funeral services are being conducted today in Montezuma for Garret J. Griffin, 14, of Dana, a student at North Vermillion Junior-Senior High School.

The investigation by Indiana Conservation Officers is “not ruling out the possibility that there was someone else involved,” Officer Kent Hutchens said on Monday.

Griffin was hunting alone at one point on Thursday, and may have been joined by someone else later in the day, Hutchens said. Several people have been interviewed, and evidence has been collected for analysis, he said. It could take several months before results on the DNA analysis are available, he added.

Griffin was hunting in a harvested cornfield on a relative’s property. The teen was using a rifle, and investigators were told that he was hunting coyotes.

Griffin was not reported missing until Friday, and his body was found at about 1 p.m. near an elevated, tripod-style hunting stand that had been set up in the field.

An autopsy conducted Saturday determined that Griffin sustained a single gunshot wound to the head.

http://tribstar.com/news/x1744207151/Teen-s-death-still-being-reviewed/print

It now appears that it was not a hunting accident that killed a 14 year old area boy last week. The Department of Natural Recourse investigator on the case says the shot that killed Garret Griffin was not self-inflicted and that there may have been others on the property at the time of the shooting, who left the boy to die. His family told police Griffin was coyote hunting. They thought the teen was at a friend's house and didn't realize he was missing until the next day. Autopsy results show he died from a single gunshot wound to the head.