A United States Postal Service employee died over the weekend after becoming trapped in a conveyor belt system at a mail distribution center in Michigan.
“The United States Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of our employee at the Detroit Network Distribution Center (NDC) in Allen Park, MI. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. The NDC is fully operational, at this time,” a USPS spokesperson said on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
The victim was identified as 36-year-old Nicholas John Acker of Trenton, N.J., according to WDIV4. His fiancée, Stephanie Jaszcz, criticized the Postal Service’s public statement, calling it “gross” and “inhumane,” per WDIV4.
Authorities were dispatched to 17500 Oakwood Blvd. around 12:25 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, WDIV4 reported.
The station noted that Acker had been deceased for six to eight hours before his body was discovered by firefighters, who responded after Jaszcz reported that he never returned home from work.
“We want to know what happened and how long he was there,” she told the outlet. “That’s what we want to know. We want to know how he even ended up there and why doesn’t anybody know where he was at?”
Reacting to USPS’s comment that the facility remains “fully operational,” she added, “The mail’s still moving? Gross.”
“Sorry about the loss, but the mail’s still moving. They couldn’t even say his name or acknowledge that he was an Air Force veteran,” she continued. “A man gone. A veteran. A husband. A human being. And all you can think of is mail keeps moving? Inhumane. It’s gross.”
The couple had gotten engaged just 10 days before the tragic accident, according to WDIV4.
Allen Park Police Detective Lt. Jason Dobbertin stated that the death does not appear suspicious, according to the Detroit Free Press. The Allen Park Police Department has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Acker was a nine-year veteran of the United States Air Force, WILX-10 reported.
He is survived by his parents, Gary and Pat Acker, and his brother, Gary Acker, according to an obituary.
His funeral service is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 14.
