Associated Press - September 2, 2009 9:35 AM ET

ASHTON, Neb. (AP) - A county sheriff says an 80-year-old farmer whose body was found under an earth-moving scraper near Ashton died of natural causes.

Sherman County Sheriff Michael Janulewicz (jan-ul-LEV-itch) says an autopsy on the body of Millard Vlach (vlock) of Scotia showed he was not killed in an accident with the scraper.

Vlach's body was found by a passing farmer on Aug. 25 on the side of a gravel road about three miles north of Ashton, which is in central Nebraska.

The sheriff says Vlach was repairing field drainage when he died.

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