SOUTHAMPTON, Virginia — – Investigators are looking into the death of a peanut factory worker discovered beneath a pile of peanuts.

Calvin W. Branch, 42, of Boykins, worked at the Severn Peanut Company in Newsoms, which is southwest of Franklin. He was found buried Tuesday under a large pile of peanuts in the plant’s warehouse. Branch was pronounced dead at the scene.

Branch’s co-workers had reported him missing about noon Tuesday. Local fire department workers and sheriff’s investigators found him about two hours later in the warehouse, where peanuts are funneled in loose piles and later pumped out into trucks, said Southampton County Sheriff’s Detective Richard Morris.

Morris said Wednesday that investigators still did not know what killed Branch or how he ended up under the pile of peanuts but that there was no indication of foul play.

Investigators with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry are investigating the death as a possible industrial accident.