College student found dead in restaurant dumbwaiter

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (KABC) -- A Minnesota college student was found dead at her workplace on Monday night inside a restaurant dumbwaiter in Wisconsin.

Brooke Baures, 21, a senior and gymnast at Winona State University in Minnesota, died at the WingDam Saloon and Grill where she worked in Fountain City, Wisconsin.

A co-worker called 911 at about 8 p.m. Monday to report she thought someone had been caught in the machinery of the dumbwaiter, a small elevator used to shuttle food and drinks to the second floor of the restaurant.

"I think one of my co-workers got (caught) in, like, our dumbwaiter," the co-worker told the 911 operator, adding, "but I'm not willing to look close enough."

She asked a fellow employee to look, then said to the dispatcher, "It's her. We need someone here like ASAP," a local newspaper reported.

Fountain City Police Officer Jason Mork said Baures was found "trapped inside the entirety of the device."

It was not clear how Baures ended up in the dumbwaiter. Police were investigating but did not suspect foul play or criminal activity.

Winona State students were devastated by the news.

"It was a very shocking moment when we were told of her death, and obviously because we are a family, it tears 18 kids apart," said gymnastics teammate Beckie Robiecki.

"Her sheer joy and delight in hitting the routine and giving me the high five and jumping into my arms and squeezing me and hugging me," said Robiecki. "Those are lasting memories that I'll cherish forever."

The Associated Press and CNN contributed to this report.