Body of Didion employee recovered from Columbia Co. grain silo

Originally published on 2FIRST ALERT

CAMBRIA, Wis. (WMTV) – Authorities have recovered the body of the missing Didion employee Tuesday night from a Columbia County grain silo.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office reports that the employee was a 52-year-old male from Waupun. Officials are withholding the name of the employee until they can notify his family.

According to a news release, Columbia County Dispatch received a call around 9:10 a.m. that there was an unaccounted for employee at the Didion Corn Mill. Officials say that their initial reports showed that the employee was working in or around a corn silo in a confined space and could not be located.

A spokesperson for the company said around 7:30 p.m. that they were “deeply saddened” by the loss of their employee who had been recovered from the Cambria raw corn processing facility.

“It has been a very difficult day for our Didion employee family,” the spokesperson said.

The company noted that they are working with authorities as they investigate this incident and will not be able to release any additional information.

A spokesperson for Didion said the employee was missing around 2:30 p.m. and authorities had focused their search at a grain silo.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and Occupational Safety and Health Administration are now investigating this incident.

The investigation included multiple first responders, including the Portage Fire Department, Divine Savior/Aspirus EMS and Lifestar EMS. UW Medflight, Columbia County Emergency Management, The Salvation Army, City of Portage Department of Public Works and the City of Columbus Department of Public Works also assisted.

Here is the full statement from Didion that was released around 7:30 p.m.:

We are deeply saddened by the loss of a Didion work family member who was recovered from a grain silo at the Cambria raw corn processing facility on December 8, 2020. It has been a very difficult day for our Didion employee family. We are assisting authorities as they investigate the cause of this tragic event and will not be able to release additional details at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with our employee’s loved ones and our grieving work family. We want to thank local fire and EMT professionals for their responsiveness and rescue efforts.

Didion statement