An illegal alien has been found dead inside an industrial oven at a cereal plant in Missouri, according to police.
The Guatemalan national was using a fake identity to work illegally at the plant.
The death has prompted a federal workplace investigation.
The incident is raising serious questions about employment practices and immigration enforcement.
According to the Perryville Police Department, officers, firefighters, and emergency responders were dispatched to the Gilster-Mary Lee Cereal Plant in Perryville.
Police had received reports that a man was trapped inside a large industrial oven that had been shut down.
By the time emergency crews reached the scene, the man, identified as 38-year-old Nicolas Lopez Gomez, was already dead.
Gomez was working under the alias Edward Avila.
The Perry County Coroner’s Office confirmed Gomez’s death.
An investigation is now underway involving the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to determine how the incident occurred and whether safety protocols were followed.
In a statement, Perry County Coroner Meghan Ellis said:
“Our offices will work with them to determine how this occurred.”
The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed that OSHA has launched an “open and ongoing investigation” into the incident.
However, the department declined to release further details until the probe concludes.
The company, Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation, has yet to issue a public statement regarding the circumstances of Gomez’s death.
It’s unclear how he was able to obtain employment under a false identity.
According to its website, the food manufacturer operates 11 locations across Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas, and has been in business for over 125 years, producing private-label cereal and baking products.
The Perryville cereal and mix plants, located across from one another on Old St. Mary’s Road, are part of the company’s key production facilities.
While officials continue to investigate the tragic death, the revelation that the deceased was a foreign national working under an alias is likely to draw fresh scrutiny to the employment of illegal immigrants in U.S. manufacturing facilities.
The issue is a long-running concern among conservatives and America First advocates who argue that lax border enforcement and identity fraud continue to undermine worker safety and national security.
Critics say this case may also spotlight failures in E-Verify and other employment verification tools, which President Trump has repeatedly called to strengthen.
Trump argues that these tools prevent illegal aliens from securing U.S. jobs.
The Biden administration had faced ongoing criticism for rolling back key Trump-era immigration policies.
Critics of Biden-era polices are pointing to tragic stories like this one as evidence of the real-world consequences of ignoring illegal hiring and document fraud in the workforce.
READ MORE – Trump Planning Mass Fast-Track Deportations of Illegals with ‘Asylum’ Claims
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