A co-worker, Lorraine Davenport, told police she was handing bags of salad ingredients to Mr. Ramsey and had turned her back to him to pick up another bag. She said that when she turned around he was gone but one of his boots—a black, waterproof, oversized boot similar to those worn by other employees—was on the ground.

When she climbed up the metal ladder, she said, she saw him inside the blending machine and began to scream. . .

Still, the question remained: How did he come to fall in?

Mr. Ramsey was about 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 145 pounds, according to the police report. When he stood on the top step of the metal ladder, the top edge of the blender, which is 6 feet off the floor, came up to his chest.

Mr. Wachs [president of the company] said he believes Mr. Ramsey might have dropped the bag of carrots into the metal bin, reached in to retrieve it, and was pulled into the machine.

He said employees know that an entire batch of salad may have to be discarded if a plastic bag falls into the blender. "But we always tell them if it falls, let it go. . . You are not going to be fired for it. But maybe he reached for it by impulse."