Industry news
Missing man crushed in compactor
Posted Mon, 26 Jul
A surveillance video has revealed that a missing caretaker was crushed to death in a rubbish compactor.
Office building caretaker John Adams was missing for weeks after falling into the compactor. His family, who were unaware of his death, had been searching for him during that time.
Police said the video showed that he had fallen into the machine while working at the One Niagara building in New York state, which has a welcome centre for people visiting Niagara Falls. The mechanism "prevented him from being able to escape and made it impossible for co-workers or others to realise what had occurred", Niagara Falls Police said.
The 67-year-old was last seen picking up rubbish on the night of July 4. Owners of the building had offered a £1,000 reward for information on his whereabouts and his family had put up signs.
"We were wondering for three weeks, 'Where is he?'," his sister, Evie Shepherd, said. She questioned why police apparently had not scanned the videotapes earlier in the search for her brother.
Police didn't immediately say when they had received or reviewed the video. Building president Tony Farina told the Niagara Gazette that building officials didn't examine the video until later because the police search of the compactor turned up no conclusive evidence.
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Niagara Falls Police