ROGERSVILLE — The body of a Hawkins County farmer who was found deceased beside his tractor Sunday afternoon has been sent to the Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City for an autopsy.
Hawkins County Sheriff Ronnie Lawson told the Times-News Tuesday that foul play was ruled out in the death Sunday of 56-year-old Kenneth W. “Kenny” Alvis, who was highly regarded in the county as a farmer, mechanic and longtime employee at the Rogersville TRW plant.
“What we don’t know is if he suffered a medical emergency that caused his death, or if he had an accident,” Lawson said. “Foul play wasn’t suspected, but we decided that it was best to send him to the medical examiner to be thorough and determine an exact cause of death.”
Shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, HCSO Deputy Wesley Seals responded to Alvis’ residence at 204 Old Route 70 near Rogersville.
“On scene I observed a red tractor up against a garage still running, pushing against the garage with a male (later identified as Alvis) lying behind the tractor with a visible head injury,” Seals stated in his report.
Billy Hurd, of Allison Street near Rogersville, reported the accident.
Hurd stated he was at the nearby Creekside Market when an unidentified male told him there was a tractor running with no one around it near Kenny Alvis’ house. When Hurd went to the Alvis residence to investigate, he found Alvis on the ground and called 911.
Hawkins County EMS responded to the scene and determined that Alvis was deceased.
Lawson said he’d known Alvis most of his life, and they’d been classmates throughout their public school careers.
“Aside from working at TRW and farming, he had a garage where he did mechanic work on the side,” Lawson said. “He was very well known and highly regarded in his community, and he will be missed by many people.”