Paighten HarkinsA 33-year-old man who was reported missing after not coming home from work Monday was found dead Tuesday morning at the Utah state archives building.
The man was working in a lightly trafficked area on the first floor of the Utah State Archives and Records Service building, 346 S. Rio Grande St., on Monday when he was electrocuted, Salt Lake City police Sgt. Brandon Shearer said. Police haven’t released the man’s name.
While other workers were in the building at the time, none of them saw what happened, and the man’s body remained in the building undetected overnight.
Tuesday morning, his body was discovered on top of a walk-in refrigerator. The man was doing electrical work when he was killed, Shearer said. While the building’s basement is prone to leaks, Shearer said officials don’t believe water was a factor.
The man was employed as a subcontractor. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate his death.
Paighten is an Enterprise reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune. She covers a variety of topics, including business, health, growth and the legal justice system — sometimes all at once. She is from southern Oklahoma, and lived and worked in the state, most recently at the Tulsa World, before starting at The Tribune in October 2017.