The South Australian boy who died after being crushed to death while sleeping in a garbage bin has been identified as Spencer Benbolt.
Spencer, 13, was asleep in an industrial bin outside the Port Lincoln McDonalds with two of his friends, aged 11 and 12, when the bin was routinely emptied into a garbage truck around 5.20am on Tuesday.
See emotional tributes for Spencer in the video player above
Police say the 12-year-old boy was able to scramble out of the bin and tried to alert the truck driver about his friends by “banging” on the window.
But it was too late – Spencer and the other boy had already been dumped into the truck.
While the younger boy was unharmed, Spencer suffered fatal injuries.
He died at the scene.
Family and friends of Spencer are devastated.
They said the three boys were inseparable, often running away from home together.
Holly Puckridge, a friend of the boy, told 7NEWS that Spencer “was a bright kid and he did everything funny”.
“He asked to stay with us for a couple days and we let him have a sleep over,” she added.
A mother of one of Spencer’s friends said her child could have been in the bin if things had gone differently.
Jess Bettoncelli said her 12-year-old son often took off with the group, sleeping outside service stations and local sporting grounds with the others.
“He’s very shaken up, he’s I think confused,” she said.
“He’s I guess wondering and suspecting that that could have been him last night.”
Despite Spencer often running away from home and spending rough nights out, police emphasised that he was not homeless.
Superintendent Paul Bahr said in a press conference “I don’t think it would be fair to classify them as homeless”.
He said police had spoken with the “traumatised” surviving pair but had not been able to establish why they were sleeping in the bin.
“It’s tragic across a whole number of levels,” Bahr added.
“And that’s just one of the levels of tragedy to this, is why these three children thought they needed to be sleeping in the bin.
“That’s one of the avenues of inquiries we’ll be taking during the coronial investigation.”
7NEWS has been told a good Samaritan bought the boys thirty dollars worth of food hours before the horrific accident.
The truck driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock.
Leave a Reply