Two bodies found "shredded like trash" have been discovered in just three days at a recycling plant - leaving their heartbroken families demanding answers.
Zack Hillis was found on April 12 at the waste management recycling plant in Tacoma, Washington, US, after his body was "thrown on conveyor belts and crushed", according to his devastated dad Stacey Hillis.
He was due to view the body on Friday but the devastating condition Zack was left in means he is unable to do so.
Mr Hillis told Fox 13: "Shredded like trash and thrown on conveyor belts and crushed in the garbage can multiple times. No parents should ever hear that, let alone bury your son."
Police are investigating Zack's last moments but Mr Hillis said his son was addicted to fentanyl and suffered from schizophrenia.
He believes his son would still be alive if he had been admitted to hospital and not released to a halfway house after spending four months in jail.
Cops said they don't suspect foul play but officers are struggling to provide the heartbroken families any information.
Mr Hillis said: “We just haven’t got any answers that we’re looking for. I mean, that’s our son, he’s gone, and nobody is telling us anything.
"[Zack] wasn't just a body found at a recycling plant," said Mr Hillis.
"He was a son, a brother and an uncle."
Shelbie Boyd, from the Tacoma Police Department, confirmed they are waiting for the medical examiner's final cause of death before providing an update.
She said: "There were no homicidal injuries that were immediately observed, but we’re still doing a thorough investigation, still waiting for that medical examiner’s final cause of death to come in."
The second body discovered at the plant just a few days later on April 15 was 36-year-old Jeremy Lindsay.
Oral Sledge, Jeremy's dad, said he hopes his son didn't suffer when his body entered the recycling machine.
He told KCPQ: "We just hope and pray he wasn't alive when he was either put in there or in any process of this recycling centre machinery.
"The description of the body after going through that even after it's found is horrendous."
Jeremy has set-up a GoFundMe to help pay for his son's funeral as Zack will be required to have a closed casket service due to the condition he was found in.
He wrote: "He was found on the recycling conveyor belt at a Tacoma recycling centre. The condition of my son's body requires a closed casket service.
"He was a talented artist and father who is deserving of a funeral service. We are asking for help raising funds for his funeral and burial."
Both of the men were only identified using their fingerprints due to the horrific conditions of their bodies.
Jeremy's family believe the two men may have met in prison.
Zack's dad told local CBS affiliate KIRO: “It was almost bittersweet because my son didn’t die alone, is what I’m thinking, because they had met in jail."
A spokesperson for JMK Fibers Recycling Centre confirmed the bodies were found on two separate days.
They said: "Neither incident involved our employees or persons working at our facility.
"We stopped operations immediately, instructed employees to leave the area, notified authorities and then cooperated in full with the investigation authorities."
