The man missing in the Downtown building collapse has been found dead

8:10 p.m.: Search and rescue workers located the lone missing man from Monday afternoon's partial building collapse in Downtown Cincinnati, according to a text message from the city manager to city council members sent Tuesday night.

"They found him. Hopefully, the family can start the grieving..." Patrick Duhaney wrote in a text viewed by The Enquirer. The screen capture is cut off midsentence.

Multiple city officials confirmed the text message Tuesday.

Duhaney sent another communication to council and Mayor John Cranley:

"I am writing to inform you that crews at the scene of the building collapse have recovered the body of the missing worker.

"The situation remains fluid and more details will be released at an appropriate time by the appropriate parties...

"The heart of the City of Cincinnati goes out to the family and friends of the deceased. This is truly a sad day for our city..."

Efforts to recover the man began immediately following the partial collapse of the seventh floor of the Fourth and Race project around 1 p.m. Monday.

Around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday the nearly constant sound of jackhammers at the site halted and a group of firefighters was seen climbing the structure.

By 8:20 p.m. the crews that ran up the steps with kits in hand were walking back down at a slower pace. A stretcher was seen being brought to the site.

Turner Construction issued a statement confirming the deceased worker was an employee at Gateway Concrete Forming.

"This is an extremely sorrowful time and our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and co-workers," the statement said.

Turner will continue to offer grief counseling services to its employees.

5:40 p.m. Tuesday: A tarp went up ahead of the windy weather as crews continue the search for a man who they believe was trapped in a partial building collapse Monday afternoon.

As the sun went down, floodlights turned on and rubble extracted from the collapse was hauled away in dump trucks.

Sparks could be seen as workers cut through rebar and other obstacles.

2:16 p.m. Tuesday: The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for all of Greater Cincinnati from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The National Weather Service said sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts in excess of 55 mph will be possible Tuesday night into Wednesday evening.

Firefighters and work crews have continued recovery efforts and work to protect the structure from the winds. Most of the debris hanging off the side of the building has been removed.

Sparks can be seen as searchers continue to work and crews have put up a tarp over the gap where the searchers are working.

10:30 a.m. Tuesday: Fire Chief Roy Winston said additional supporting structures were being added in the area of the collapse and then heavy equipment would be brought in.

High winds are expected Tuesday, and Winston said some of the debris on the outside of the structure would need to be removed.

Right now, the focus is on cutting away the external debris and shoring up the inside.

8:10 a.m. Tuesday: Fire Chief Roy Winston said crews jackhammered through concrete and cut through rebar overnight and did a "tremendous" amount of work as they continue to search for a missing worker.

Crews are 18 hours into the rescue, search and recovery efforts, Winston said.

He said search dogs have provided a starting point but crews have begun to work outside that area.

Structural engineers have given firefighters the OK to bring in heavier equipment, to help cover a larger area in the search.

The collapse started on the seventh floor. The missing worker was below the collapse on the fifth floor, according to Winston. An area of 200 feet by 40 feet is affected by the collapse.

"All we know at this point was that the collapse occurred south to north and then all of that concrete came back south, if you will, once the weight of that shifted. It created that hole and that collapse we see," Winston said.

Winston said his staff has been in touch with the family of the missing worker during this "tremendously trying time."

"This morning the rescue effort will move to a slower pace temporarily as the team reassesses its efforts and the overall operational approach," City Manager Patrick Duhaney told City Council on Tuesday morning. "The goal is to create an aggressive plan that emphasizes worker safety and maximizes available resources."

7:17 a.m. Tuesday: Cincinnati Fire Chief Roy Winston will provide an update at 8 a.m. to the search and rescue efforts at the partial collapse at the Fourth and Race project.

4th St. update: Fire Chief Winston will brief the media at 0800 on the corner of 4th and Elm Streets. — Cincy Fire & EMS (@CincyFireEMS) November 26, 2019

6:30 a.m. Tuesday: Crews from 11 fire departments and a team from Columbus worked through the night at the site of the partial collapse at the Fourth and Race project in Downtown. One worker remains missing.

Update, 12:35 a.m. Tuesday: Crews from the Urban Search and Rescue Team's Central Ohio Strike Team arrived at Fourth and Elm streets from Columbus just before midnight. Their effort was to find a missing man after a partial building collapse.

The missing worker had still not been located or extracted from the partially collapsed development known as Fourth and Race under construction there.

Cincinnati Fire Department officials said 11 local fire companies remained on the scene hours after the afternoon report of a collapse.

Every hour or two, since the initial reports, workers would arrive with more jackhammers and haul them up the scaffolded stairs over their shoulders. This was all in an effort to find the unaccounted for worker from Monday afternoon

Crews were busting apart the concrete, cutting through the steel rebar and searching the rubble with probe cameras. Dogs occasionally ascended the stairs to continue hunting for the worker.

Update, 10:08 p.m.: Turner Construction Co. said that four workers who were injured at the Fourth and Race partial building collapse have been treated and released from area hospitals.

"One worker remains missing. Recovery efforts are ongoing and we continue to hope and pray for the best," the company said in a news release. "As we continue to gather information, we are encouraging workers to utilize grief counseling services that are available to them."

Our Firefighters continue to operate on 4th St. This is a challenging and dangerous scene. We are receiving support from @HamiltonCoUSAR and have other state resources coming in overnight. We will be on scene for quite some time. pic.twitter.com/PzuP5FYGcp — Cincy Fire & EMS (@CincyFireEMS) November 26, 2019

Update, 8:07 p.m.: The city manager of Cincinnati informed the mayor and members of city council the search for the man missing in Monday's partial building collapse is "transitioning from a rescue effort to recovery mode."

"It is with a heavy heart that I announce first responders are transitioning from a rescue effort to recovery mode in the search for a construction worker who went missing after a partial building collapse early this afternoon..." City Manager Patrick Duhaney wrote in an email Monday night. "It goes without saying that this is a horrible tragedy. Our thoughts are with the family of all those affected particularly the individual who has not yet been found. We are all praying for a miracle."

From Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley:

"As search teams continue their work tonight, we pray for the man not yet found, his family and crew. The men and women who build this city do not come to work every day without risk, and today is a painful reminder of that. We thank our first responders who helped several people hurt today and are still working at this hour to bring closure to this sad day."

Previous reporting: After hours of searching by first responders, the Hamilton County Coroner is hoping for a miracle for a man who went missing in Monday's partial building collapse that left three others injured.

No official confirmation of a fatality was made at a press briefing around 7 p.m., but several local media outlets cited law enforcement and union sources saying the worker had died in the incident.

Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco would not make that call while speaking to the press after a meeting with the man's family.

"They're hoping for a miracle. We're hoping for a miracle," Sammarco said. "We're preparing for not, unfortunately."

A source within the Cincinnati Fire Department said the missing victim had not been located as of 7 p.m., but rescuers were digging in an area where search dogs have indicated he could be. It's under approximately 2-5 feet concrete and debris, the source said.

Cincinnati Fire Chief Roy Winston said 420 cubic yards of concrete had been poured, which had partially hardened. Crews were working to cut through that concrete along with rebar, wood and other construction debris.

As the search stretched into the night, jackhammers echoed at the corner of Fourth and Elm streets in Downtown where the construction project sits.

Jesse Phelps works for Baker, one of the contractors doing work on the site. He was doing concrete finishing work when the collapse occurred.

“I happened to look back and see a whole deck and all my buddies disappear because the shoring gave way,” Phelps said.

At least three workers working were rushed from the scene in ambulances after the collapse. A union representative for the workers at the site told The Enquirer Monday afternoon that one man was still missing.

Phelps said about 14 workers were part of his crew and there were other workers from other contractors nearby.

He said he was told one man hadn’t been accounted for, so he and others started searching the rubble and moving away the still-wet concrete.

He shoveled for about an hour straight, he said. As concrete begins to cure and harden, it heats up.

Phelps' legs were burned when he emerged for the structure. He walked away in his socks, his boots laden with concrete. Fire Department personnel checked him out and he headed for his truck.

At the time, he still didn’t know the fate of his coworker.

“I just couldn’t give up trying to dig. I worked with that guy for 10 years or so,” Phelps said. “I hope he left and didn’t tell nobody.

“I hate it. I just absolutely hate it,” he said.

It was Rob Richardson Jr., a Laborers’ International Union representative from Cincinnati, who said one person was still missing.

“This industry, union or non-union, is a dangerous industry,” he said. “These workers deserve our respect. They deserve high pay and they deserve safe conditions. This is hard to hear.”

As the search continued, two search dogs were carried up the steep scaffolding stairs to the floor below the collapse. The dogs’ barks could be heard over the drone of the fire engines and construction equipment.

Turner Construction, the main contractor on the construction project, released a statement Monday afternoon:

"Earlier today at the Fourth and Race Street project, a section of temporary concrete formwork collapsed during a concrete pour on the sixth floor. We are aware of injuries to three workers. First responders were called and all construction activity was halted. First responders provided immediate care and the injured workers were transported to nearby hospitals. Recovery efforts are ongoing. Counseling services will be made available to all workers on site. We work extremely hard to prevent days like this and our thoughts are with the injured workers and their families."

“We are working diligently to gather information,” said Richard Farr, a spokesman at Monroe-based Baker Concrete, which also was working on the site Monday. “Our primary concern is the well being of any injured coworkers.”

Jeff McClorey, owner of Bromwell's, located across the street from Fourth and Race, was at work when the building collapsed.

McClorey said there’s a lot of construction noise on a regular basis and he’s stopped looking up when it happens. And today was no different, but then there were “an unusual number of fire trucks roaring down the street.”

“It was an area where they were pouring concrete,” McClorey said. “I can see the scaffolding hanging. Someone has fallen to the ground. It’s bad.”

When police and fire began arriving at the scene, a construction worker told an officer: “There are people on the ground bleeding right now.”

The roads surrounding the project were closed, and many remained closed at rush hour Monday. Officials believe the roads could be closed through the weekend.

The building is at the location of the former Pogue's garage. Construction began on the mixed-use development called Fourth and Race in November of last year.

It will include a 584-space parking garage and 264-unit apartment tower.

Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) and Flaherty and Collins, a developer out of Indianapolis, are working on the project.

It’s similar to the downtown Kroger building, where 3CDC is developing the street-level retail space and the parking garage, with apartment units above developed by Flaherty and Collins.

The parking portion of the project was set to open in the first quarter of next year, followed by the retail portion of the project in the summer.

The garage was topped off a month ago, bringing the building up to level seven, where the collapse occurred. The apartments were just beginning to be built. When it’s finished the building is set to be 14 stories.

The site was subject to some controversy after delays in the start of construction. In May of last year business owners near the site sent a letter to the city of Cincinnati asking it to terminate its contract with 3CDC.

The owners said the vacant lot was a drain on their businesses.

In 2012 during the construction of the then-named Horseshoe Casino in Downtown, a floor collapsed under similar circumstances.

In that incident, workers were pouring concrete on the second floor of the building when it fell on to the first floor. More than a dozen workers were hospitalized. Messer Construction and five other firms working on the project were cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Work was delayed for a week following the casino collapse. 3CDC said work will also be delayed in at the project 4th and Race streets.

“Construction will be paused as project partners work to determine the cause of the collapse and confirm the structural integrity of the rest of the building,” the group said in a press release Monday.

Federal inspectors with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were sent to the construction site to determine if the accident warranted an investigation of potential worker safety violations, according to a spokeswoman.

OSHA’s Cincinnati office has investigated five fatal workplace accidents in 2019 in the region.

[ Get the latest updates on this story by downloading the Cincinnati.com app. ]

This story is being updated.