Fairfield students wearing purple after 10-year-old dies in ATV accident

Today students at a Butler County elementary school are wearing purple, the favorite color of a classmate who died this week in an ATV accident.

Reagan Vanoss , 10, a fifth-grader at Fairfield West Elementary School, died Tuesday night while riding an ATV with her father, Brad. They had just completed dragging a diamond at Mitch and Lois Rhodus Field of Dreams in Fairfield when the ATV flipped and landed on Reagan.

Police are uncertain why the vehicle flipped, they said.

She died at Mercy Hospital. She died from head trauma and her death was ruled an accident, according to the Butler County Coroner’s Office.

Brad Vanoss suffered injures that were not life-threatening, according to police.

Missy Muller, principal at Fairfield West, said additional counselors are at the school today to meet with any students and staff who need assistance.

Muller called Reagan “a ray of sunshine” and a little girl who lit up the room.

“I know people always say this after a tragedy like this, but she didn’t have a mean bone in her body,” Muller said. “She was the sweetest girl.”

Reagan was the youngest of four children of Brad and Angela Vanoss and all the children attended Fairfield schools.

Mitch Rhodus, the family’s spokesman, described them as “the American family” because of their deep involvement in the Fairfield community.

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