New Dad, 22, Found Dead After Arizona Warehouse Collapse: ‘Not the Outcome We Wanted'

A 22-year-old father was killed in a Phoenix warehouse collapse, leaving behind a son who was born only two weeks earlier.

On July 27, authorities recovered a body believed to be Oswaldo Antonio Montoya Torres, who went missing after storms collapsed the warehouse he was working in. 

Torres, a forklift operator, was working the night shift at the Freeport warehouse on July 24 when a microburst hit. The weather phenomenon, which can produce winds up to 100mph according to CBS affiliate KTVK/KPHO, caused a side of the building to cave in. While other workers were able to escape, Torres remained inside. 

After three days of searching, Phoenix Fire Capt. Todd Keller announced that they had recovered a body. “A little after one o’clock, our crews identified a victim we believe to be Oswaldo," Keller said during the July 27 press conference, according to KTVK/KPHO.

Keller said the police are working with the medical examiner to determine a positive identification on the body. 

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“This is not the outcome we wanted,” he added.

Torres had worked at the warehouse for a year, according to the outlet. He had also reportedly just become a father, with his new son being born just two weeks before the incident occurred. 

"His partner, she said that he would always call her during work to see his baby, 'What's he doing? Send me a picture,' " Torres’s sister, Judith, told Fox affiliate KSAZ. His other sister, Marian, said he considered his son his “little treasure.”

“That's what he would call him, pequeño tesoro,” she said. 

Keller said firefighters worked 12-hour shifts for three days while searching for Torres. They used specially trained K-9s, drones and heavy-duty cranes to move the rubble safely. Crews worked diligently but progressed slowly due to stability issues with the rest of the structure, which was at risk of further collapse. 

Keller said that they removed over 40,000 pounds of concrete in the area where the body was recovered.

"These were racks of product 40 feet tall and when this roof blew off, all these racks collapsed and it kinda corkscrewed and piled down, so we had to obviously use heavy equipment. The complexities of an incident like this is such a large scale," he said, per KSAZ.

The Phoenix Police Department has taken over the investigation, according to the outlet. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner will now determine Torres' cause of death.

The young father's sisters say they are still processing the loss of their brother. “God is giving us strength. He's giving us the strength,” said Marian. “This is a very hard moment, but we feel him. He's with us.”