Fowler Police say officers were dispatched to the National Raisin Company facility plant around 2:30 p.m. Thursday for a possible industrial incident.
Chief Greg Gularte says 39-year-old Juan Patino, an employee at the plant, was last seen around 1 p.m., pumping rainwater off a tarp near a water digester.
Patino's co-workers had noticed he had not clocked out of work. Concerns grew when his work vehicle and hard hat were found in the area he was last seen.
Authorities say a search of the digester will begin on Friday morning. A dive team that specializes in operations in the type of liquid in the digester is traveling from Salt Lake City to carry out the search.
The same dive team was previously called out to the site in 2020 to recover a tarp from the digester.
CAL-OSHA and the Fresno County Fire Department are investigating the incident along with Fowler Police.
Chief Gularte says the CEO of National Raisin Company has made contact with Patino's family.
Stay with ABC30 for the latest details on this developing story.