ALEXANDER COUNTY, N.C. — UPDATE: Search crews have recovered the body of a man buried during a trench collapse in Hiddenite.
Authorities have identified the man as 56-year-old Terry Lee Ledford.
Rescue crews and local law enforcement officers say they were called to Hill River Road just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Friends of Ledford told officers he was digging for emeralds in the area around 3 p.m. They say they called 911 when they noticed his belongings were still at the site but could not locate him.
Just after 9 p.m. authorities recovered Ledford’s body. The hole where he was buried was about 30-feet deep.
