ROXANA - The Madison County Coroner's Office, Roxana Police Department and other law enforcement officials have determined the deceased male found on Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery property this morning took his own life.
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The Madison County Coroner's Office said the man, a 45-year-old Wood River resident, was discovered by a passing truck driver this morning on Heavy Haul Road at “L” Street on the refinery property. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Madison County Coroner’s Investigator Shane P. Liley at 8:25 a.m.
The Madison County Coroner's Office said the investigation at the scene indicated that the decedent had tied a rope to a utility pole with the other end of the rope being wrapped around his neck after seating himself behind the wheel of a Ford F-150 pickup truck. The decedent then rapidly accelerated the vehicle forward which resulted in mortal head and neck injury. The vehicle ended up crashing into a tree afterward.
The Coroner's Office confirmed at this time the investigation has not yielded any evidence of foul play in association with the death. Investigative interviews indicated that the decedent had been suffering personal problems in recent days. Toxicology testing for the presence of alcohol and drugs remains pending at this time.
Roxana Police Chief Will Cunningham said an exact time the man died is not yet known, but he speculated it was between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. He said the man was an employee of the Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery, but was not on the clock at the time.
“It is not a work-related incident,” the chief said. “The man took his own life. There is nothing suspicious or no criminal activity is suspected. It did happen on the Phillips 66 Refinery property.”
Cunningham stressed the incident did not impact any refinery operations or cause any type of lock down of the facility or buildings and was not an industrial type of accident.
Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery operations have continued as normal through the morning and afternoon, Melissa Erker, a spokesperson at the refinery said. Erker also mentioned there was never a shutdown of operations.
In addition to the Madison County Coroner’s Office, the Roxana Police Department and Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services investigated the incident as well.
Funeral arrangements remain pending at this time but are under the direction of Paynic Home for Funerals in East Alton.
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