THE airport worker who found the body of a woman on a luggage carousel at Chicago O’Hare Airport has described the horrifying moment he discovered her.
Virginia Vinton who was seen entering a restricted zone for employees at 2:30 am on August 8 was found dead several hours later by a Delta Airlines baggage handler.
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The mother of two was initially reported to have tragically become caught up in the machinery of Carousel 11, but authorities in Cook County, Illinois have since ruled her death a suicide.
An incident report from the Chicago Police Department, obtained by The Daily Mail details the account given to police by the baggage handler when he started loading luggage onto the carousel.
“He began starting up the conveyor belt by swiping his airport ID and using his fingerprint to begin operations,” the report stated.
Then, as the luggage belt started moving, the opening to the carousel chute opened up and the unnamed airport worker saw a woman at the entrance of the belt.
“He thought to himself, ‘Why is there a lady in the chute looking at me, maybe observing me do my job,” the report stated.
The worker asked Vinton if she wanted him to turn off the belt but as he continued loading bags onto the carousel, he told cops he got an “eerie feeling” and asked her if she was okay.
Only when he approached the 57-year-old did he notice that she had a cord from the machinery wrapped around her neck.
The Chicago Fire Department then received reports of a woman “pinned in machinery” at the airport’s Terminal 5 baggage area.
Firefighters cut the electrical cord and performed life-saving measures on Vinton but she was declared dead at 7:55 am, the report stated.
Just before Vinton was seen entering the restricted zone in the early hours of the morning, security footage from the airport showed her sitting by Customs Door B in Terminal 5.
She then “left her seat and walked over to Carousel 11 and walked into the chute at 2.26 am,” the Chicago Police Department revealed, noting that though it is a restricted zone, it is not a high-security area.
It was five hours later when Vinton was found by the baggage handler.
While her death was initially thought to have been a tragic accident, the Cook County Medical Examiner ruled her death a suicide by asphyxiation after finding that Vinton had wrapped the cord around her neck herself.
Vinton, from North Carolina, was a missionary at Wycliffe Ministries in Waxhaw with her husband James, 59, with whom she had two daughters Abby and Emily.
Their biography page on the ministry’s website features an image of the family all beaming into a camera.
It details how the pair had lived in Mozambique, East Africa, for over a decade translating bibles.
While it is not known what Vinton was doing in Chicago, the couple detailed on the website how they would take trips to the Midwest to visit friends in the summer.
James now “works remotely from North Carolina, traveling to other parts of the world,” as the Seed Company’s Director of Translation Consulting, the website states.
Wycliffe Ministries has released a statement following the news of Vinton’s death.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Virginia,” a spokesperson for the organization told The Christian Post.
“Our heartfelt condolences, thoughts, and prayers are with her family during this difficult time.
“We respectfully ask that the family’s privacy be honored as they grieve.”
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If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.