On Thursday morning just after 9:30 am, Steuben County Sheriff's Deputies along with other area First Responders were called to the area of SR 120 near CR 25 E in Steuben County's rural Jamestown Township on a report of a person being actively electrocuted.

Upon the arrival of initial responding units, a male subject was found partially in a hole in the ground at the base of a utility pole, and appeared to be deceased. Sheriff's Deputies and First Responders were unable to approach the victim initially due to live electrical wires near the victim.

Once NIPSCO officials were able to make the area safe, the victim was recovered from the hole and identified as 29 year old Cody Griffin of Reed, KY. Preliminary investigation indicated that Griffin was doing contract work on the utility pole at the time of the incident, which still remains under investigation by the Steuben County Coroner's Office.

This situation is believed to be linked by officials to the widespread power outage that affected much of Steuben County Thursday Morning, as many were left without power until early afternoon.

Assisting the Sheriff's Office at the scene were the Fremont Police Department, Fremont Fire Department, Steuben County EMS, Steuben County Coroner's Office, Steuben County REMC, NIPSCO, and the Fremont Community Schools Transportation Department.