Girl dies after fall from semi-tractor

A 4-year-old Kootenai County girl was found dead Sunday after getting caught between the tires and mud flap on a semi-tractor, according to the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department.

"This was just a freak accident," Maj. Ben Wolfinger said on Monday.

Steven Wilson, a Wolf Lodge resident, had driven his semi from his house to a nearby shop for maintenance work around 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Upon arriving, he discovered his daughter, Julie, wedged between the front set of wheels and the front mud flap.

Emergency personnel pronounced Julie dead at the scene due to massive head trauma.

Sheriff's investigators determined the girl had apparently climbed on the back of the vehicle unbeknownst to her father as he was leaving their home. Somewhere during the trip, lasting seven tenths of a mile, Julie fell and was caught between the tires and flap.

"Apparently in the past, when dad worked on the truck she crawled up there to watch him work," Wolfinger said. "This time when she crawled up there, he couldn't see because of the sleeper on the semi."

The sheriff's department deemed the death a tragic accident, Wolfinger said, and the father will not be brought up on charges.

The Wilson family requested no contact from media personnel.