DETROIT – The Wayne County Medical Examiner has ruled the gruesome death of postal worker Nicholas Acker an accident, but it is of little consolation to his family and friends, who are demanding answers about what led to his gruesome death.
Acker, 36, was found dead on the afternoon of Nov. 8, 2025.
A mechanic in the Air Force for nine years, Acker worked on the mail processing equipment at the United States Postal Service’s Detroit Network Distribution Center in Allen Park.
According to the medical examiner’s report, his body was found wedged in between a guard rail and the conveyor belt of a sorting machine.
Acker was pronounced dead at 1:12 p.m.
He had apparently been there between six and eight hours before his body was found.
The official cause of death was listed as Mechanical Asphyxia, which occurs when a heavy object – in this case, the mail machine – compresses or crushes the body.
When Acker didn’t return from work, his fiancée, Stephanie Jaszcz, said she began to panic and went to the Allen Park facility and waited outside the gates watching emergency responders arrive, before she was notified of his death.
“I went up there, went to the fence and the intercom, and I was talking to some girl, and I was, like, ‘Listen, not to sound crazy, but my fiancé is missing,’” Jaszcz said to Local 4 on Nov. 15. “She tells me he never punched out and they’re looking for him.”
“All of a sudden, an ambulance, a fire truck, cop cars are all coming in,” she said. “No one will let me through the gate. No one will talk to me.”
The Medical Examiner’s report says Acker also suffered a litany of injuries, including cuts on his head, face, neck, forehead, and scalp, along with bruises on his neck.
And the toxicology report found no drugs or alcohol in his system.
“Nicholas was not impaired, reckless, or responsible for the circumstances that led to his death,” Ali Moubarak, the attorney representing Acker’s family, said in a statement on Wednesday. “The Acker family is seeking answers, accountability, and justice for Nicholas. They deserve nothing less.”