HOUSTON – A man is dead after he was buried alive by sand at John Pundt Park in the 4100 block of Spring Creek Drive.
The 30-year-old father, who has been identified as Lonnie Spencer, was trapped and killed in a collapsed dune.
Spencer was at the park with his 5-year-old daughter Tuesday night, playing in one of the many sand dunes that have formed since the Tax Day floods. Officials said Spencer dug a tunnel eight feet long when, at some point, it collapsed on top of him.
"His daughter was actually the one that was pretty heroic. She went to some other people that had come down there. A man and his girlfriend had come down there fishing," a firefighter said. "They saw her down there by herself and thought maybe she was just around the bend from her family, actually the little girl came over and said, 'Can you help me my daddy's stuck in the sand.'"
By the time, firefighters dug Spencer out, it was too late.
His daughter was not hurt.
Spencer's father Barry Spencer told Channel 2 News the family is in shock, especially his little granddaughter.
"She's not doing well, she thinks it's her fault," he said.
Deputy Constables said Speencer and his daughter were not breaking any laws. They are calling it a tragic accident.
Love ones established a GoFundMe account top help cover expenses for Spencer's funeral.
A look at the hole where a father was buried alive in a sand dune last night at Pundt Park in Spring. pic.twitter.com/xmcuKUspmu
— Syan Rhodes (@SyanRhodes) May 11, 2016