On Monday June 27, 2016 at approximately 12:30 am, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office was notified that employees at the Apache Generating Station near Cochise, Arizona, had discovered human remains in one of three coal rotary plows that are part of the coal elevating and delivery system.
The discovery was made when workers noticed the rotary plow was malfunctioning.
Deputies arrived on scene and recovered partial skeletal bones and body parts that were in the advanced stages of decomposition.
The recovered body parts were transported to the Pima County Medical Examiners’ office for testing in an attempt to identify the subject.
It appears that the body may have been in a coal train car prior to the coal being dumped into the coal chute at the power plant. It is unknown how long the coal and/or body was in the chute and the investigation is being continued by the Sheriff’s Office.