The search for a worker trapped in a collapsed trench on a new home construction site in Spring City on Saturday came to an end when the worker’s body was recovered around 1:00 am Sunday.

Rhea County Detective Rocky Potter says the man was deceased at that time. He states that the contractor of the construction of a home had hired a sub-contractor to hand dig out the trench to help repair the walls. Rhea County Sheriff’s Department says it was a two-man ditch job. Because of a language barrier – crews originally believed two men were in the trench, however, it has been confirmed now that it was only one.

Crews from Crossville and Cumberland County arrived on the scene to assist Rhea County first and assessed the situation and began working to stabilize the structure.

“When the cave-in was noticed, of course, there was a language barrier between the workers and EMS and it was a two-person job in the trench. So they naturally assumed that both people were inside the trench and buried.”  Detective Potter says through a translator the sheriff’s office was able to speak with some of the crew and they found the second party that was assigned to that ditch worked somewhere else.  This confirmed the location of at least one person that was believed to be inside the trench.

“One of the subcontractors is Hispanic had gone to a third-party contractor on another job site to call 911. The man had to go to a better location for phone service, and when he came back to the job site a lot of the workers had moved away to another area away from the home. When we were able to find our translator and they did another headcount of employees to confirm that there was only one missing.”

The missing man’s body was retrieved around 1 a.m., and Dr. Cassidy, the Rhea County Coroner, was on the scene and pronounced him deceased on the scene.  He was transported shortly after 1. am. by ambulance to the Rhea County Medical Center. Through the translator, deputies were able to contact family members to get them out there.

Detective Potter says it was around 3:30 or 4 a.m. when everything was cleaned up and all the crews had left.