Body of last Impact Plastics worker found one month after Helene • Tennessee Lookout

The body of the last missing Impact Plastics employee has been recovered more than a month after fast-rising floods triggered by Hurricane Helene swept away 11 of the plant’s workers as they tried to flee.

Five workers were rescued by National Guard helicopter. Rosa Maria Andrade Reynosa, a 29-year-old mother, was among six factory workers who did not survive.

“Rosa Maria Andrade Reynosa was recovered by Unicoi County Search and Rescue on October 30th and then identity confirmation was completed on October 31st by the forensics center,” Search and Rescue Captain Andrew Harris confirmed via email Unicoi County. Monday.

Plant workers said they were forced to stay on the job on Sept. 27 even as floodwaters rose in the plant’s parking lot in Erwin, Tenn.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) are investigating the workers’ allegations.

The company has repeatedly denied claims that employees were not allowed to leave the facility and has promised to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations.

In a videotaped statement released days after the flood, Impact Plastics President and CEO Gerald O’Connor said the company conducted an internal review of the incident and found the workers’ allegations to be “false.”