Body of quarry worker recovered

CRAWFORD CO. – Indiana Conservation Officer divers along with Indiana State Police divers have recovered the body of the rock quarry employee missing since yesterday. 

Shortly before noon, divers recovered the body in water between 20-30 feet deep with the help of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) submersible sonar unit.

Divers entered the inverted vehicle and extracted the body. 

Identity is being withheld pending family notification. 

Indiana Conservation Officers began searching for the employee after the dump truck he was operating fell into a water-filled rock quarry pit.  

At 2 p.m. Tuesday, emergency personnel were dispatched to a rock quarry at Mulzer Crushed Stone Inc., near the 20000 block of Alton Fredonia Road in rural Crawford County.

A Mulzer employee was operating a dump truck weighing several tons near the edge of the pit when the truck slipped over the edge, dropping several hundred feet into the water.

Responders’ initial search efforts were hampered by steep, unstable terrain near the pit. Mulzer employees helped by constructing a temporary path that allowed conservation officers to access the water by boat. Sonar images taken from the boat confirmed the location of the truck.

Assisting agencies at the scene included the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department, Crawford County Emergency Management Agency, Leavenworth Fire Department, and Indiana State Police.