Overview

• Nicolas Lopez Gomez, 38, a Guatemalan national working under the alias Edward Avila, was discovered June 26 inside a deactivated industrial oven at the Gilster-Mary Lee plant in Perryville.
• He was power-washing the oven’s exterior when responders gained access and found him trapped in the nonoperational machine.
• Perry County Coroner Meghan Ellis and federal OSHA investigators have opened a formal inquiry into equipment maintenance and safety procedures.
• Authorities have ruled out foul play and Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation has not commented pending the outcome of the probe.
• The incident underscores recurring industrial oven hazards in food manufacturing, echoing similar fatal accidents regionally and abroad.