Man killed after recycling bin he sheltered in was picked up

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A man who apparently sought shelter in a cardboard recycling bin in Montana’s capitol city was killed after the container was picked up by a garbage truck, the Helena Police Department said.

The man’s body was found in a collection of recycled cardboard by an employee of Pacific Steel & Recycling in Helena late Thursday morning, officials said.

The victim was 24-year-old Jacob Daniel Garza from Utah, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton told the Independent Record. Dutton did not know Garza’s hometown.

Investigators believe Garza “climbed into a recycling bin to stay warm sometime during the early morning hours of Thursday,” Helena police said in a statement. The driver of the garbage truck was unaware Garza was in the recycling bin.

Garza died of multiple blunt force trauma, Dutton said. Foul play is not suspected.