Authorities in South Carolina have established that the human remains found in a plastic shredder at a local industrial plant belonged to a man who went missing two months ago.
Duncan Alexander Burrell Gordon was last seen May 5 when he was working a night shift at Industrial Recycling and Recovery in Greer, just northeast of Greenville, local outlet The State reported last month.
Gordon, 20, was last observed at the plant — off Interstate 85 between Greenville and Spartanburg — standing atop an industrial shredder around 2 a.m.
In the following days, many people grew worried, noticing that since he had gone missing, Gordon did not use his mobile phone or debit card, according to The State.
This is Duncan Alexander Burrell-Gordon.
Duncan’s family says he was last seen at his job on May 5. After more than a month of him missing, the coroner’s office has now been called to help investigate. https://t.co/Kd5svQXgtr pic.twitter.com/CAcXFN87fn
— FOX Carolina News (@foxcarolinanews) June 14, 2022
On June 10, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office found human tissue in a conveyor belt at the plant, the newspaper reported.
The body was found after authorities used a cadaver dog following two previous searches, The Associated Press reported Thursday.
More human remains were located underneath the conveyor built, which transports shredded plastic material from the shredder, according to The State.
The shredder used in the plant can also shred metal, The State reported.
Tests that followed revealed that the recovered human fat, small bone, skin particles and blood belonged to Gordon.
“The material was desiccated so it was hydrated in a lab later,” Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said in a news release, according to WYFF-TV.
“After hydration, it tested positive for human blood. What we have tested and was positive came from under a support under the conveyor belt just after the plastic shredding machine,” Clevenger said.
The findings prompted Clevenger to close the investigation into Gordon’s death, WHNS-TV reported.
“I’m lost without my son. We were together 24/7 and now all I can do is cry and go in his room and tell him how much I love and miss him,” Gordon’s father said in a statement to the outlet.
Under state regulations, family members cannot get a death certificate without a body.
However, Gordon’s death can be legally certified through an alternative process, Clevenger said.
The family was informed of the process, he said, according to WYFF.
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