Illinois man's body found in gas tanker hauled by truck

BUCKLEY, Ill. (AP) - A southern Illinois man's body was found inside a tanker filled with gas after two truck drivers noticed the fuel wasn't flowing smoothly during unloading, police said.

The drivers were trying to unload the tanker Friday at a gas transfer hub in Iroquois County when they found the body after opening it to determine why the fuel wasn't flowing steadily, Coroner Bill Cheatum said.

The drivers said they had faced problems unloading gas from the tanker for a couple of days and had no idea how the body ended up inside it, Cheatum told WCIA-TV.

Illinois State Police identified the dead man as Garrett Mayer, 29, of Nashville, Illinois, WICS-TV reported.

An autopsy was conducted Saturday at the Champaign County Coroner's Office, and toxicology results are pending. The Iroquois County Sheriff's Office is investigating Mayer's death.

The body was found while the tanker truck was stopped at the gas transfer hub near the small village of Buckley, located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Champaign.