Electrocuted maintenance worker’s body found in Coca-Cola distribution center, cops say
A maintenance worker with a “contagious smile” was found dead after he was electrocuted at a Coca-Cola warehouse in North Carolina, according to officials and a news outlet.
On Thursday, Feb. 8, Raleigh-area officers responded to the beverage distribution center and found the man’s body “in a Fire Suppression Riser Room,” according to the Clayton Police Department.
The man was identified as 34-year-old Nathan Garrett Vanbeek of Selma. Vanbeek was an employee of Stoltz Management Company, which does maintenance work at the Coca-Cola center, police wrote in a news release.
Though the maintenance company didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Feb. 9, Coca-Cola Consolidated shared a statement with McClatchy News via email.
“We’re deeply saddened by this tragic loss and offer our condolences,” the Charlotte-based bottler said. “We’re also providing grief counseling and chaplain services to our teammates at the facility.”
Officers said they were called after a worker found Vanbeek’s body at the facility in Clayton, a Johnston County town roughly 15 miles southeast of Raleigh.
“After further investigation, it was determined that Vanbeek was removing a heater fan from a wall inside the room and appeared to have been electrocuted during the process,” police wrote.
Vanbeek is remembered as a man with a “contagious smile and personality,” his cousin, Amanda Guenther, told WNCN.
“At a young age Nathan would tell his nana he wanted to move to North Carolina where the weather was beautiful, the hunting was good, and the racing was even better,” Guenther told the TV station. “Nathan was living his dream.”
Officers said their investigation into Vanbeek’s death continues.
The N.C. Department of Labor told McClatchy News in an email that Clayton police reported a worker’s death to its Occupational Safety and Health Division. The department said it “assigned a compliance officer to begin an inspection of the accident/incident.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2024 at 8:13 AM with the headline "Electrocuted maintenance worker’s body found in Coca-Cola distribution center, cops say."
