Wilmer Peter, 70, awoke Sunday to a phone call at 3:30 a.m. The voice on the other end told him his grandson, Isiah Peter, had fallen down a grain bin in Roland.

Wilmer knew he would not see Isiah again.

“I already knew if he fell from a [grain] elevator, he wasn’t going to make it,” said Wilmer, a minister in Story City.

Isiah Peter would have been 12 years old Thursday.

“He was a terrific and nice-looking boy,” Wilmer said.

Capt. Gary Foster, Story County Sheriff’s office, said Isiah, his 15-year-old brother Uriah and two other boys from the area wanted a late-night thrill.

“[The] group of kids decided to go out for a late night adventure,” he said. “They wanted to see what the town looked like from the top of the grain bin.”

The group climbed to top of one of five outside vertical grain bins owned by Heart of Iowa Co-op. Isiah fell about five stories, 56 feet, through an open hatch to the pavement below.

Jim Penney, general manager for Heart of Iowa, said he could not comment about the incident, but did express his sympathy.

“Our heart goes out to the family,” he said. “I wish it could have been avoided, but you know, it happened.”

Foster said he does not know if climbing grain bins is a common occurrence.

“How many times its happened, no idea,” he said. “I suspect it’s not the first time, either.”

Wilmer said Isiah had just attended prayer the night before the incident. He attended church services and Sunday school regularly as well, he said.

“He was an energetic young man, inquisitive,” Wilmer said. “I never heard him speak curse words. [He had] an outstanding character.”

Wilmer said the family is trying to deal with the situation as Christians.

“We’re dealing with it as Christians should deal with it — life is temporary,” Wilmer said.

Isiah’s two brothers and sister are also working through the ordeal, Wilmer said. Isiah was living with his mother, who is divorced from his father.

Wilmer said he and Isiah’s parents have always tried to teach the children about good decision-making. “We’ve shared with [Isiah a philosophy] throughout life: Life is the end result of the decisions we make when we’re young,” Wilmer said.

The funeral has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 604 Lafayette Ave. in Story City.