SC missing man fell into plastic shredder at recycling plant: coroner

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A 20-year-old man reported missing two months ago fell into a plastic shredder at the recycling plant where he worked, a South Carolina coroner said.

Duncan Alexander Burrell Gordon, who went by the name Alex, was reported missing in early May from the Industrial Recycling and Recovery plant in Greer, where his father is a supervisor.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said Gordon apparently fell into the plastic shredder where he was working May 5.

Clevenger said in a news release Wednesday that the machine was inspected four times, first by Gordon's father. Remains were found during the third search, which included a cadaver dog, he wrote.

He said the sample's DNA matched that of Gordon's parents, WSB-TV reported.

"What we have tested and was positive came from under a support under the conveyor belt just after the plastic shredding machine," he wrote, according to WYFF-TV.

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The remains that were found included about 2 ounces of blood, Clevenger said. He also said sheriff's deputies were told that about 30 tons of plastic "had been processed between the time Gordon was noticed missing and when the first investigator arrived to inspect the machine."

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an investigation June 16 because the incident happened in the workplace, according to Lesia Kudelka, communications director and ombudsman for the South Carolina Department of Labor, License and Registration.

The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office is investigating, Lt. Kevin Bobo said Wednesday morning. The sheriff's office would not comment on the nature of the death and did not say if it was being investigated as an accident or a homicide, the Herald-Journal reported.

The coroner's office closed its missing-person investigation Wednesday night.

Gordon's father declined to comment on his son's death when contacted via Facebook, but his mother, Jaime Renee Dill, said he was a talented gamer and loved "Call of Duty."

"He was single but was all about his family. He has three older brothers and one younger sister," Dill said. "He loved bowling and four-wheeling. He was a goofball. He loved his gummy bears."

The machine where Gordon's remains were found is a plastic materials shredder common in recycling, Clevenger said.

Contributing: The Associated Press