Body found in QVC facility after five-alarm fire

A body was found at a QVC distribution center in North Carolina on Sunday, a day after a five-alarm fire burned through the facility.

Fire Search and Recovery members had located a body “on the outbound side of the loading dock” at the QVC building in Rocky Mount, the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

They said the deceased had been identified as 21-year-old Kevon Ricks.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Mr. Ricks as well as all team members affected by this tragedy,” the release said.

It comes after fire crews were called to the QVC center, a major employer in the area, at around 2a.m. on Saturday for a fire that was eventually declared a five-alarm blaze, the sheriff’s office said in an earlier statement.

“As members of local law enforcement and fire departments began to arrive it was determined that there was a fire inside one of the main warehouses,” the statement said.

Workers were still on the job at the facility when the fire broke out and the sheriff’s office had said one person had been unaccounted for.

QVC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

Speaking to CBS 17, Stephanie Randolph, a woman who identified herself as Ricks’ aunt, said her family had been worried after not hearing anything from Ricks after the fire at the QVC facility was reported.

“We went out there to go see him but of course they’re not letting people in, so I hopped on Facebook to see pictures, and I seen his mom say she hadn’t talked to him,” she said.

Randolph said she decided to make her way to the facility herself, saying: “I parked and hopped out and talked to (a) state trooper. I was like ‘no, one person is missing that works third shift’.”

“Immediately he said let’s go Miss Randolph,” she said.

On Sunday, Ricks’ family members received the news that he had been found dead.

Randolph said she was feeling “fear. Hurt. Anger” over the incident.

“More anger than anything,” she said, as she and her family looked for answers into what caused Saturday’s events.

Randolph said Ricks had only been working at the facility for three weeks before the blaze broke out. She said he leaves behind a young son.

As the incident unfolded on Saturday, the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office said dozens of agencies at the local, state and federal level assisted in trying to contain the blaze.

It is still unclear what caused the fire.

The sheriff’s office said no arrests had been made in connection with the blaze, which is being investigated by the sheriff’s office, as well as by the North Carolina SBI, the North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In a statement posted on Twitter, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper he was “saddened by the loss of life during the QVC Distribution Center fire.”

“I’ve been in contact with local and state officials about that tragedy and taking steps to help families hurt by the loss of more than 2,000 jobs,” he said.

Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson said his office was “standing by to understand what this means economically to employees.”

In a statement posted on Facebook, he said his office was “ready to assist in any way we can.”