Man dies repairing tornado-damaged Sanford store

A man working to repair tornado damage to a store in Sanford fell to his death Wednesday from the store's roof, police said Thursday.

A Sanford police officer spotted a vehicle outside the Tractor Supply Co. store at 3004 Horner Blvd., which has been closed since sustaining heavy damage from an April 16 tornado. The officer went inside the building to investigate and found the body of Thomas Jacobs, 60, of Lugoff, S.C.

Jacobs was a construction worker surveying the damage to the store, police said, and he fell through a weakened portion of the roof onto a cement floor about 20 feet below.

Police said he suffered massive head and internal injuries and died on impact.

No one else was in the building at the time, police said.

The state Department of Labor was investigating Jacobs' death.