It's been five years since two Carroll County teenagers died after becoming engulfed inside a grain elevator.
On the fifth anniversary of the deaths, free grain handling safety training was offered to local farmers at the Carroll County Farm Bureau. The training, sponsored by the Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) and Grain Handling Safety Coalition (GHSC), demonstrated an overview of grain handling and storage safety.
"Something as simple as turning off the unloading auger or turning off the machinery in the storage facility before you enter the bin can save your life," said Ag Rescue Manager Dave Newcomb.
Following the training, family, friends, emergency personnel and community members convened to remember Whitebread and Pacas.
"It never goes away, and today at 9:15 a.m. I felt like a knife was plunged into my stomach and my heart," Annette Pacas, the mother of Alejandro Pacas, told News 8.
"After losing a son, you always have a hole in your heart," Pacas said.
Although she said she struggles with the loss everyday, she doesn't believe her son's death was in vain because of the education that has come of it.
"If one child is saved; if one person is saved from this incident, then Alex did not die in vain," said Pacas.
A weeping willow tree will be planted in Mount Carroll in memory of Pacas and Whitebread. While looking at the tree with a smile, Pacas said the weeping willow was a perfect memorial.
"I love that it is a weeping willow because it weeps like we do, but it grows and hopefully we'll grow in the future," she said.
There were 71 grain engulfments between 2013 and 2014, resulting in 28 deaths, according to Newcomb. He added that 7 out of 10 incidents occur on the family farm.
In 2014, Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. was found guilty on three counts of negligence and were ordered to pay $16 million in total to the Pacas and Whitebread's families, including $875,000 to Piper.