The accused, pictured here in 1984 as a sapling, about the same age as the young victim

Mason County, Sept. 9 (PFM): 8 year-old Caleb Cunningham was eaten by a tree at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday. His parents and two neighbors witnessed the event.

The boy had just begun climbing the 32 year old Live Oak when the incident occurred. “It was weird. It just started swallowin’ him whole,” said MayBeth Cunningham, the boy’s mother. “I told Earl run get the camera, but time he got back it was done over with.”

Neighbor Harley Creel quickly retrieved a chainsaw and began cutting at the base of the tree, 3 feet below where the boy was ingested. The dazed youngster was safely removed from the belly of the tree with the help of rope and a jar of petroleum jelly.

“Yeah, we was lucky Caleb didn’t get sawed in half,” said Earl Pratt, the boy’s stepfather. “I sure hated losing that tree though.”

Apparently traumatized, Caleb has no memory of the event. Overwhelmed by curious crowds, Pratt has begun charging admission to view the felled tree.