Now, with Joplin in splinters, surviving residents are left without homes, without jobs. Their late brother was survived by two daughters and a son, Dunn said. It's tough for me to be left behind."įaith Dunn was a retired teacher of piano and sign language for the deaf at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Dunn said. Our parents are both dead, and we had a brother in between us and he died in 2006. "I'm actually relieved that she has been found and that she's in a much better place. When she finally received the official word from authorities on Tuesday evening that her sister's body was identified in the local morgue and had died in the tornado, Dunn felt emotions ranging from dread to relief. On Monday evening, state investigators indicated they may have some news for her on Tuesday, so Dunn took that day off from her job as a caregiver, she said. Of course, Dunn told them, their father was a minister. "I knew in my heart she was gone."ĭunn gave authorities a DNA sample by running a sponge swab through the inside of her mouth, but she could sleep only two or three hours a night as she awaited the final word from authorities, whose meticulous verfication process prompted them to ask Dunn three or four times whether she and her sister had the same parents, Dunn said. I guess you can't take it with you," said Dunn, who lives 20 miles north of Joplin. "Seventy-one years, and that was all that was left of her. The only possessions belonging to her sister that Dunn found were two dinner knives and small glass figurine of a cat, she said. Judy Dunn, 65, was among the last people to receive word from state investigators on what became of their missing relatives, she told CNN on Wednesday.ĭunn's sister, Faith, 71, had been missing since the May 22 tornado, but Dunn had a good idea that her sister didn't survive because there was nothing left of her top floor apartment in a two-story building, not even her piano, Dunn said. This was a critical mission that our Missouri State Highway Patrol performed exceptionally well," the governor said. "Our troopers worked 24/7 to locate these individuals and to bring relief to the families of the living, and closure to the families of those who died. "In the wake of this devastating tornado, Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers have demonstrated outstanding professionalism and dedication in carrying out the vital mission of locating every individual who was unaccounted for after the storm," Missouri Gov. Many relatives of missing persons expressed frustration with the state's method of using a slower, more scientific method to verify the identities of bodies recovered in the twister. The Missouri governor praised how additional state troopers expedited the accounting of missing persons. "We have a lot of critically injured folks that we're hoping and praying they'll pulll through, but there could be additional deaths attributed to this storm," Bundy told CNN. Of the 134 who were killed, three died in a hospital, state officials said. The death count could rise because many tornado victims are hospitalized and fighting for their lives, said spokesman Seth Bundy of the state's public safety department. CT on Wednesday - not 142 as Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr told CNN over the weekend - according to state officials. The overall death toll in the tornado was 134 persons as of 1 p.m. Of the 268, 144 were eventually located, and 124 were confirmed dead, with their relatives formally notified, state officials said Wednesday. The number of unaccounted-for individuals eventually saw a big drop as authorities said only 268 missing-person reports were officially filed. The May 22 tornado killed more than 100, becoming the deadliest twister since modern record keeping began in 1950. (CNN) - The list of people missing in tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri, reached zero Wednesday afternoon as authorities said they have located all unaccounted-for individuals or have confirmed their deaths, the Missouri Department of Public Safety said.Īt one point, more than 1,300 people were reported as unaccounted for in the aftermath. The Joplin tornado is the deadliest since modern record keeping began in 1950.Many relatives were frustrated with state's slow method for verifying identities.NEW: Death toll could still rise, as many victims still are fighting for their lives.
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