The search continues… With over 232 residents still missing and at least 126 announced dead in Joplin, MO, we can only imagine the worry and frustration these families are feeling.
“Officials in Joplin, Mo. are expected to hand out a revised list of people missing from last Sunday’s tornado with a dramatically lower number.
CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy spoke with siblings desperately trying to find Dee Ann Hayward – their mom – who went to pick up pizza for her son Caleb’s graduation party Sunday. She never came home.
“We’ve been looking for her ever since,” said her son, Robert, handing out fliers with her photo.
Michelle Hare’s search for her 16-year-old son Lantz ended on Thursday. Joplin police showed up to tell her his body had been identified.
“It is in some way a comfort to know he’s in a better place and that we don’t have to wonder if he’s out there needing us,” said Hare.
Many families are frustrated and confused. They feel the city has been slow to identify the dead, leaving them perhaps searching and hoping in vain.
Families with missing loved ones aren’t allowed to go to the makeshift morgue to identify the bodies. Instead, they have to submit DNA samples or dental records, and wait for a match.”
“We have to be 100% accurate,” said Don Bloom of the Federal Disaster Mortuary Response Team. “That is why the process on our side takes a little bit longer.”
It could take two more weeks before some are identified.
The missing persons list posted Thursday includes many who are already known to be dead – or alive and well.”
With little to no cell coverage, frantic residents are reaching out to radio as a hub for relief and as well as a circuit of hope in finding their loved ones.
Despite their loss and the mass destruction some are saying confirms the end of days, we hope that Joplin, MO can get it together… and rebuild!
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