A 24-year-old bow hunter from Solon Township was found dead Thursday evening after falling out of his tree stand.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Rodney S. Smith, 24, was hunting on Simmons Avenue, north of 20 Mile Road Thursday, October 28, and failed to return home. A relative went looking for him and found him shortly before 9 p.m. It appeared he had fallen from his tree stand. Emergency crews found the man unresponsive, and he was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say the hunter fell approximately 20 feet and landed on the ground at the base of the tree. They consider it an accident and said there is nothing suspicious to indicate otherwise. An autopsy was scheduled Friday at Spectrum-Blodgett Hospital.

Smith, the son of Roy and Nancy Smith of Cedar Springs, graduated from Cedar Springs High School in 2004. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, with interment in Solon Township Cemetery. Click here for obituary.