The bodies of two men who met in prison were found “shredded like trash” days apart at a recycling plant in Tacoma, Washington.
Zach Hillis, 33, and Jeremy Lindsay, 36, were found dead on April 12 and 15, respectively, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner.
Their bodies were taken from the JMK Fibers Recycling Center in such poor condition that both required burials in a closed coffin. To identify the men, detectives used their fingerprints and, in Lindsay’s case, a tattoo.
It is unclear how they ended up in the factory or where they died. Both were in prison, where they met, and, according to their parents, struggled with drug addiction.
Both parents expressed the hope that their sons were not alive when they went into the shredder.
“We hope and pray he wasn’t alive when he was placed there or in a process from the recycling center’s machinery,” Lindsay’s father, Oral Sledge, said. “The description of the body after going through it, even after it was found, is appalling.”
The body of Zach Hillis (left), 33, was discovered at the recycling plant on April 12. He suffered from schizophrenia and battled drug addiction. Jeremy Lindsay (right), 36, was found three days later. His wife said she last saw him in early March and that he wanted help
The two bodies were found at the JMK Fibers Recycling Center (pictured), which operates a 90,000-square-foot facility in Washington’s Port of Tacoma.
Tacoma police have said they have no reason to suspect foul play.
JMK Fibers is a recycling facility that sorts and processes recyclables — it operates a 90,000-square-foot building on a 10-acre site in the Port of Tacoma, according to its website.
Stacey Hillis, Zach’s father, told fox13 that his son had schizophrenia.
“He definitely didn’t deserve this,” he told the station. “Just a loving child gone way too soon.”
“Torn up like garbage and thrown on conveyor belts and crushed several times in the bin,” he added. “No parent should ever hear that, much less bury your son.”
“It’s a grief beyond words,” he said.
In a separate interview with KIRO7, he said he wanted answers. “It was almost bittersweet because my son didn’t die alone, I think,” he said.
“We just don’t have the answers we’re looking for. I mean that’s our son, he’s gone, and nobody tells us anything,’ he added.
Shelbie Boyd of the Tacoma Police Department said, “There were no homicidal injuries that were immediately observed, but we are still conducting a thorough investigation and are still awaiting that coroner’s final cause of death.”
A spokesperson for JMK Fibers Recycling Center (pictured) confirmed that the bodies were found on two different days
“My heart just sinks. It just breaks me to pieces,” Darlene Lindsay, Lindsay’s mother, told the outlet.
Sledge told Fox13 that his son was resourceful, witty and generous and started a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of Lindsay’s funeral and a funeral.
“He was a talented artist and father who deserves a funeral service. We are asking for help in raising money for his funeral and burial,” Sledge wrote.
Lindsay’s wife, Ashley, told the station she last heard from her husband in February or early March, shortly after he was released from prison.
“He needed help and he wanted to meet me, help him get better, and that’s what we were working towards. And then nothing after that,” she said.
“I promise I won’t be at peace until I find out what happened to him. I’ve been home every day for the past four days without eating or sleeping, just wondering if I’m going to get a call or record or something,” Ashley said. “It’s not right.”
A spokesperson for JMK Fibers Recycling Center confirmed that the bodies were found on two different days.
“Neither incident involved our employees or individuals working at our facility,” they said. “We immediately halted operations, instructed workers to leave the area, alerted authorities and then fully cooperated with law enforcement authorities.”
