CHICAGO (WBTV/AP) – Firefighters found a Union County woman dead and involved in machines Thursday in a non-public baggage handling area at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

The woman, identified as 57-year-old Virginia Vinton of Waxhaw, was reportedly found in a conveyor belt system in a baggage compartment around 7:45 a.m.

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Larry Langford, a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, said the room was not open to the public and it was unclear how she got there.

Police dispatch initially said Vinton was discovered at 2:27 a.m., leading to confusion about why firefighters and paramedics did not arrive for more than five hours. After asking police exactly when, Langford said he was told surveillance footage showed the woman going into the luggage compartment at 2:27 a.m.

The communications office issued a second statement Thursday afternoon, saying surveillance video showed Vinton entering the room at 2:27 a.m. She was actually spotted at 7:30 a.m., prompting a 911 call.

The footage only shows her walking and not what happened to her.

Police spokesman Nathaniel Blackman clarified in a telephone interview with the Associated Press that no one had watched the surveillance cameras in real time and that investigators only reviewed the footage after the woman’s body was discovered.

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