A barrier to notifying kin of death

The victim of a fatal industrial accident on Monday in Avondale was not identified by police until today because of difficulties finding the man's next of kin.

Walter Timby, a spokesman for Cardile Brothers Mushrooms, said that when 40-year-old Lucio Valderrabano began working for the fourth-generation, family-owned business in May 2010, his employment documentation, which included an ID and a green card, did not include information about relatives. As a result, his employer did not know immediately that he had family in Mexico.

"His co-workers were his family," said Timby. He said the hard-working Valderrabano lived and worked on the property, making his death from a freak hay-bale accident particularly devastating for the entire company. Timby said Valderrabano, like many of his colleagues, spoke limited English; however, one associate had information that eventually led to Valderrabano's wife in Balle del Charco. Solidarida Mexico. "The Cardiles are doing whatever they can to assist in getting her a visa" so she can claim the body, Timby said.

For more information on the accident, see http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120119_Crushed_mushroom_worker_identified.html