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Rescue crews found the body of the permanently missing Impact Plastic employee, police said
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Rescue crews found the body of the permanently missing Impact Plastic employee, police said

ERWIN, Tenn. (WVLT) – Unicoi County Search and Rescue has announced that the body of the last missing Impact Plastics employee has now been recovered.

Officials confirmed that 29-year-old Rosa Andrade was found dead more than a month after flooding from Hurricane Helene. Andrade was among six Impact Plastics workers who died in the floods. Andrade leaves behind a husband and two children.

The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it had opened an investigation into Impact Plastics last month.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was also investigating the company’s handling of the historic flooding after some employees alleged the company did not allow them to leave the Erwin facility with enough time to get to safety.

CEO of Impact Plastics Gerald O’Connor rissued a statement after TOSHA the TBI announced it was investigating the employee deaths.

The family of a slain supervisor at Impact Plastics in Tennessee said the plant’s owner was not one of the last people to leave the plant, contradicting what the owner has said publicly.

Johnny Petersonan Impact Plastics supervisor, helped get at least 10 people out of the plant and into the bed of a semi before the semi was overturned by the Helene floods that day.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed on behalf of Johnny Peterson’s older daughter, Alexa.

The last video Peterson texted his daughter Alexa was from inside the semi truck bed at 12:57 p.m

Officials said an investigation into workplace deaths could take up to six months.