Dave Bocks

[TheCars1986]

That picture is with the lid open. Bocks couldn't have closed it if he jumped or fell in with it open. No one from the plant has ever reported the lid being open from the first shift.

[freakbook]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

That picture is with the lid open. Bocks couldn't have closed it if he jumped or fell in with it open. No one from the plant has ever reported the lid being open from the first shift.

So if you surmise that the lid was mostly closed, and you combine the over-bearing temperatures then its more than likely he was put in there versus him jumping in there

Alot of work to squeeze in a small opening with high temperatures to kill yourself when there are easier methods

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by freakbook

So if you surmise that the lid was mostly closed, and you combine the over-bearing temperatures then its more than likely he was put in there versus him jumping in there

Alot of work to squeeze in a small opening with high temperatures to kill yourself when there are easier methods

The lid had to have been completely closed because if it was open, the lift used to operate the lid would have been inoperable. So no one could have put him in the way conspiracy theorist DC Cole believes. The three wire loop was proven to have had nothing to do with Dave's death. If Dave opened the lid to jump in so he would have more room, someone else had to have closed it and no one would have had any reason not to report to someone that they came in and the lid was open when they arrived, because they would have no idea that Dave had jumped in it.

That leaves two possibilities:
-Dave jumped into that "small" opening when the lid was closed.
-Dave fell into the opening accidentally.

The opening was not as small as people have reported. It was wide enough for someone of Dave's size to have fallen into. If he jumped into it completely straight feet first, he would have fit. If he fell accidentally, it's still possible that his body would have fell in to the point where he could have fallen into the opening. From an Ohio News article about Dave's death:

The oven is about 12 feet long, four feet wide, and four feet deep, with a hood suspended over it. There is a gap between the hood and the oven large enough for a person to get through it, but how Bocks may have gotten in there is a mystery, Carrell said.

"It's not level with the ground like a swimming pool. It would be difficult to stumble in. You would have to climb up on some pipes to get to it", he said.

IIRC, Dave's daughter mentioned in the Accused podcast that Fernald was on board with an accidental death until they realized they would be on the hook for workers' compensation...then they changed their tune and started pushing the suicide theory. Dave was assigned to a different plant that night, and we know, according to Dave's supervisor, that Dave completed the job he was supposed to do at that plant. So why did he go to the different plant? Could have been any number of non nefarious reasons. Maybe he wanted to take a nap, maybe he knew there was something needed fixing in Plant 6 so he went over to do some maintenance work. I just cannot accept foul play in this case when you consider:

-Dave arrived at work with Harry Easterling after midnight, and the workers were supposed to meet at Plant 12 for their assignments. Dave wasn't there initially, and his supervisor radioed him and asked where he was and he said he was south of Plant 5 (near Plant 6) getting some fresh air. The supervisor said he would pick him up in a work truck and drive him back to Plant 12. When the supervisor picked him up, he was in front of Plant 6.

-Dave ate lunch with his supervisor and Harry Easterling around 4:10 a.m. and punched back in at 4:46 a.m.

-Dave's supervisor says he had a talk with Dave in front of Plant 4 (where they punched in) for "ten minutes" and saw him walking towards Plant 8 where he had been assigned work.

-5:15 a.m. was the first drop in the temperature in the furnace.

-At 7:30 a.m., Dave's supervisor tried radioing him in and couldn't get a hold of him and says he went to Plant 8 and saw that the work Dave had to do had been completed.

To believe Dave was murdered, you would have to believe that his supervisor (or someone else at the plant) murdered him without leaving any evidence behind of foul play, managed to carry his body up some steps or up a ladder, thrown his body inside of the furnace, and then covertly went to Plant 8 and completed the job Dave had been required to do (and that night he was one of two pipe fitters who would have been able to do said job). I don't buy it.

[freakbook]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

If Dave opened the lid to jump in so he would have more room, someone else had to have closed it and no one would have had any reason not to report to someone that they came in and the lid was open when they arrived, because they would have no idea that Dave had jumped in it.

That leaves two possibilities:
-Dave jumped into that "small" opening when the lid was closed.
-Dave fell into the opening accidentally.

So then you have two other possibilties:
-someone put him in the hole
-someone opened the lid, put him in the furnace, and then put the lid back on

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

To believe Dave was murdered, you would have to believe that his supervisor (or someone else at the plant) murdered him without leaving any evidence behind of foul play, managed to carry his body up some steps or up a ladder, thrown his body inside of the furnace, and then covertly went to Plant 8 and completed the job Dave had been required to do (and that night he was one of two pipe fitters who would have been able to do said job). I don't buy it.

Why would someone had to have completed his work for him? If we believe that the first temperature drop at 5:15 a.m. was Dave's body then that means he finished his work prior to 5:15 a.m. Unless the 5:15 drop wasn't Dave's body (or the other pipe fitter finished the job)

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by freakbook

So then you have two other possibilties:
-someone put him in the hole
-someone opened the lid, put him in the furnace, and then put the lid back on

It would have been physically impossible for someone to have thrown him in because to do so without an explosion throwing remnants everywhere, they would have had to have thrown him in perfectly straight head first or feet first. It was also too hot for someone to have been near the furnace to the point where they could have thrown him in.

Lowering him in with the lift was impossible because the lift was inoperable once the furnace lid was open. It only functioned to open and close the lid. There were no other means for someone to have used equipment to put him in.

Originally Posted by freakbook

Why would someone had to have completed his work for him? If we believe that the first temperature drop at 5:15 a.m. was Dave's body then that means he finished his work prior to 5:15 a.m. Unless the 5:15 drop wasn't Dave's body (or the other pipe fitter finished the job)

Because by Dave's time card, the killer would have had approximately 29 minutes to locate him, kill him, transport his body to the Plant 6, and somehow manage to get him into the furnance by 5:15 a.m. Dave going off to finish his job gives his killer less time to do so. If Dave and his supervisor talked for ten minutes, that narrows the time down to 19 minutes. Occam's razor is Dave went to Plant 8, finished the job, and then went to Plant 6 where he met his fate.

[Janel "Jaycee" Miller]

Originally Posted by Allierain

Hmm. Looking at it from this angle, maybe he could have fallen in accidentally. I just don’t know.

Something about this case I don’t like are the reports from many employees about the apple cores. If they left a small crust on the salt and made such a kaboom when thrown into the vat, how on earth wasn’t there an explosion and huge chunks of black stuff thrown everywhere from a body being dropped in? Humans are a little over 50% water. In the podcast mentioned earlier it was reported the bones found in the vat did not look like chicken bones but how could they be sure they were even bones to begin with? I’m no scientist but I would expect everything organic to be totally destroyed in the high heat of the vat. That leaves keys and wire. Did they honestly prove in one way or another that Dave was even dropped in there?

I am no scientist either, but maybe there was an explosion, but no one was close enough to hear it? After all, IIRC, there were fewer employees at the plant overnight than during the day. Also, IIRC, what employees were there focused on maintenance, so their projects may have been loud enough to drown out the explosion. Or the employees were so focused on their jobs they weren't paying enough attention to hear an explosion?

(On that last point, I work part-time in retail and sometimes I am so focused on getting the merchandise on the shelves that I don't hear customers come up behind me.)

I can't decide how Dave Bocks died. Yes, he was at higher risk for suicide given his past, but, unless he was somehow disoriented, that just seems such an awful way to go. And yes, while I know that there are some really evil people out there, I can't imagine anyone dropping him in there. Perhaps he was playing around and took one too many chances.

[sharonite]

https://www.statenews.org/section/th...ature-preserve

I wonder if poor Dave Bocks's radioactive remains are still there.