Nick Bledsoe
Justin Eldridge
Okawville, Ill. (KSDK) -- Two teens working their after-school jobs on a farm Thursday night were electrocuted.
It happened at Elm Farms, a grain, dairy and livestock farm in Okawville, Illinois, about 35 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Now, the tight-knit community of Okawville, population just 1,400, is devastated.
"They were doing exactly what they loved to do and unfortunately a fluke mistake, an accident, led to their deaths," says Leon Spinka, principal at Okawville Junior and Senior High School.
Nicholas Bledsoe, 19, was senior class president, homecoming king, and a member of several school organizations, including Future Farmers of America.
Justin Eldridge, 18, was also in the FFA, another active senior.
Both were working their after-school job at Elm Farms at 8:40 p.m. Thursday when, by the light of tractor headlights, a pole they were holding touched an overhead power line.
"There was an animal inside the pipe and they tried to get it out and it hit the power line," says Jeremy Boswell, who was standing right next to his friends when they were shocked.
He called over another friend who was at the farm, Travis Blumhorst, for help.
"Got the call, ran out there, started CPR, before the paramedics came," says Blumhorst.
Nick and Justin were taken by ambulance to Washington County Hospital where they were pronounced dead just after 10 a.m.
The coroner has scheduled autopsies as part of the investigation.
Michelle Hasheider, a member of the family who runs the farm, calls Nick and Justin two great kids who were like members of their family. She says the teens loved the farm, and they loved the teens. Hasheider says the boys had just detailed two tractors and driven them to school as part of the FFA's "Take a Tractor to School Day." Hasheider says the teens will be greatly missed and their thoughts and prayers go out to the Bledsoe and Eldridge families.
Ameren Illinois did not return NewsChannel 5's Kay Quinn's calls for comment.
Counselors and clergy were brought in to Okawville Junior and Senior High School to talk with understandably emotional students.
"It's a huge loss when you're talking about a senior class that has 47 kids in it," says Principal Spinka. "To lose two, it's a loss we're going to be dealing with for a very long time."
Those who knew them say Bledsoe and Eldridge were bright lights of their class. Young men who were leaders and who will be missed.
"They were very good boys you could open your door and have them sit down at your supper table with you and never have a word about it," says Okawville Police Chief Steven Millikin,
"Two of the greatest kids you could ever really ask for," says Blumhorst.
In a text message, Bledsoe's sister Hanna called Nicholas an awesome brother and friend.
Funeral services for both Nicholas Bledsoe and Justin Eldridge will be held together.
Their visitation is Monday, March 7 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Okawville Junior-Senior High School gym.
Their funeral is at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 8, also in the school gym.
KSDK