A young girl got off her school bus Monday afternoon, returned to her North Carolina home and discovered that her mother had died after a backhoe rolled onto her, officials told WSOC-TV.

Neighbors on Catawba Point Way in Belmont made a 911 call around 4:30 p.m. to report the discovery.

Friends said Sherry Morriss, 49, planned to build her dream home down the dirt road and was determined to complete the job. She was hard at work doing that when things went wrong.

Morriss, a single mother, was pinned under the backhoe when it rolled over.

Her 9-year-old daughter ran to a neighbor's home to call for help after she found her mother.

"It's going to be a big loss," family friend Tammy Surtin said.

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Savannah Chrisley, daughter of former reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, speaks outside the Federal Prison Camp on May 28, 2025, in Pensacola, Fla. President Donald Trump pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were found guilty of defrauding banks out of $36 million and hiding millions in earnings to avoid paying taxes. (Dan Anderson/AP)

Credit: Dan Anderson/AP