COVINGTON, Virginia (From The Roanoke Times) -- A subcontractor employee killed last week while on the job at the WestRock Co. plant in Covington died from blunt force trauma to the neck and chest, an autopsy has determined.

The death of Kent Duane Johnson was ruled accidental, according to the state medical examiner's office in Roanoke, which conducted the autopsy after the Oct. 6 incident at the paper mill.

WestRock officials have declined to release Johnson's name or details of the accident, which happened at 3:15 a.m.

According to an obituary that ran in the Brainerd Dispatch in Brainerd, Minnesota, Johnson, 57, of nearby Cushing, died Oct. 6 from injuries sustained in a work-related accident.

A mechanical engineer, Johnson was self-employed and traveled across the country to do service engineering work at paper and pulp mills, often when the plants were closed for the night, said his close friend, Roger Hogstad of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Johnson enjoyed an intellectual challenge, Hogstad said, and was "very meticulous and very precise in his work."

When he was home with his wife, Bobbie, Johnson always had a project going in his shop, where dogs and cats were often underfoot. Johnson's love for animals made it hard for him to resist strays that crossed his path, Hogstad said.

In response to questions Tuesday about the accident, WestRock spokeswoman Rebecca Johnson forwarded a news release from Valmet, a contractor hired to do a rebuild project at the mill.

"In a serious workplace accident ... an employee of Valmet's subcontractor was severely injured and died," the news release stated.

"We have informed the personnel working with the project on site and are providing them the needed support," Jeff Braunwart, health, safety and environment manager for Valmet, was quoted as saying in the release. "Investigation of the accident has been started together with the customer and the authorities."

The news release did not name the employee who died or provide details of what happened; Braunwart declined to elaborate.

Jennifer Rose, program director for Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Compliance Program, confirmed last week that the agency is investigating the death.

It was unclear how long Johnson had been working at the Covington plant.

But if the road trip to the Alleghany Highlands was like the others Johnson took, his friend said, he was likely enjoying the chance to see new places and meet new people.

"Kent was not a person who would be happy doing a 9-to-5 desk job," Hogstad said. "He was the type of person who was very full of life, and he liked to live life to the fullest."