La Grange Man Dies In Horrific Workplace Accident

A La Grange family is left seeking answers after a man died in a horrific workplace accident during an overnight shift Friday night at Darling Ingredients in Bastrop.

Antony DeWayne Cada, 59, of La Grange, was crushed beyond recognition by equipment at the facility, said his wife Anissa Cada, also of La Grange.

Cada was only a month into his employment at the facility (and only his second week on the night shift) at Darling Ingredients outside Bastrop when the incident occurred.

Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook confirmed the details.

Darling Ingredients is a processing plant that among other things turns poultry byproducts into pet and livestock food.

Earlier this year The Texas Office of Attorney General sued Darling Ingredients over nuisance odors emitted by the plant that have sparked hundreds of complaints to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality over the past few years.

Antony went to work as usual Friday night.

Saturday morning Anissa got a knock on her door from a La Grange Police Officer.

“He said he had been asked by the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department to let me know that my husband had died at work ... He had heart trouble, my assumption was that he had a heart attack.”

By Sunday night when Anissa was finally able to talk to a Bastrop County detective, he was able to give her a few details, but said he needed to see her in person to give her the full story.

Monday, Anissa and the two children she and her husband shared (who are 35 and 30), met with a pair of Bastrop County Detectives and a Victim’s Advocate.

They told her there was video of Antony getting out of a pickup at the facility, but then he was missing at about 9:30 p.m.

A total of 13 people were working at the facility overnight.

“They located some fabric from his uniform and a boot (near some equipment) ... the whole area was shut down,” Anissa said.

His remains were sent to a forensics lab this week for identification.

Anissa and Antony moved to La Grange from the Houston area in 2000.

She used to work for the La Grange school district and now works at Monument Hill Nursing Home.

The whole family is still trying to process the shock of the situation.

“The Victim’s Advocate gave us information on how to file for the death certificate and about contacting Social Security and the IRS ... She also told us, ‘how do you put a price on a loved one,” Anissa said Tuesday. “We want to find a (legal) firm that works on these types of things ... We’ve yet to hear anything from the company.”