Many of the Dead Never to Be Identified

TIM DAHLBERG ^ | 9-5-05 | TIM DAHLBERG

[alanm]

By TIM DAHLBERG, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago

NEW ORLEANS - They died on flooded city streets in the Big Easy and in country homes in Mississippi. One survived seven months of combat in Iraq only to die near his boyhood home. An 80-year-old woman died sitting in a bedroom chair when a tree crashed through the roof. One man was killed when he went out to his car to charge his cell phone during the storm.

ADVERTISEMENT

A woman known only as "Vera" was struck by a car after the hurricane hit, according to her husband.

Most of the dead from Hurricane Katrina don't have names yet. Many will never be identified because their bodies decomposed in the floodwaters and heat before they were found.

For some, a few details are emerging from relatives who want them remembered:

[alanm]

what on earth to do with them all, it couldn't possibly be healthy for all the many rescue workers who are working with all those dead and decomposing

[tet68]

what on earth to do with them all,

Can you say Massen Graben?
Or perhaps some kind of macerator attachment to the big pumps?

A sad state but most will be identified.
They should perhaps be intered in a memorial spot
central to the city.

[csvset]

The History Channel broadcasted a show about hurricanes a few days ago. I caught a bit of it while channel surfing. They showed pictures of the authorities burning the dead. I didn't catch which hurricane it was.

[dynachrome]

"One man was killed when he went out to his car to charge his cell phone during the storm." Darwin award

[elli1]

A woman known only as "Vera" was struck by a car after the hurricane hit, according to her husband.

So, did hubbie forget 'Vera's' last name?

[PeteB570]

"Vera's" husband does not know her last name?

That's interesting, must be one of those "New Age" families.

[LRS]

Probably Galveston. They actually tried to get rid of the bodies by taking them out in the Gulf on barges, and dumping them. Predictably, the bodies washed back on shore. That's when they resorted to burning them...

[YourAdHere]

Just too hard to fathom.

[Tall_Texan]

Click the link, and you'll find her story:

---

For days, mystery shrouded the body of "Vera" as closely as the sheet that eventually cloaked her body. She stayed there in the Garden District, at the corner of Jackson and Magazine, with a spraypainted tribute on the sheet over her: "Here lies Vera. God help us."

Vera turned out to be 66-year-old Elvira Smith, who lived with her common-law husband, C.N. Keene, about five blocks from where she was killed. Sitting shirtless and with a growth of beard on the front porch of his modest duplex, Keene said he last saw his wife Monday after the hurricane struck.

Keene said she was on her way to Jewel's grocery when someone driving in the frantic aftermath of the hurricane struck her just a few feet from the store entrance and sped away. The next day, Keene said he walked over and put a bedspread over her body but he didn't want to return to it.

On Saturday, Keene was sitting on his porch when a man came up to him with some news.

"Some guy I didn't even know named John came by and said, 'I've just buried Elvira in the park,'" Keene said. Her body remained in the same spot, but a short wall of bricks had been built around her, anchoring the tarp.

"I told him I appreciated it," Keene said.

[stylin19a]

every specific story in this article indicates the subject person is identifiable....

A woman known only as "Vera" was struck by a car after the hurricane hit, according to her husband.

words fail me..... why even write this article ?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

It wouldn't be the first mass grave in NO...there's one in the Cemeteries where they buried victims of Yellow Fever...then people forgot the location and a road partially covers it!

[JRios1968]

And of course, it's all Bush's fault.

[alanm]

scary

[alanm]

of course, isnt it all Bush's fault..sarcasm

[Alouette]

What is the official death count?

The media keeps on repeating the wild-eyed guess of "10,000" but how many bodies have actually been recovered?

Tens of thousands was also the early estimate for 9/11.

I am going to predict that the total deaths for Katrina will probably not exceed 9/11.

[bannie]

I had to go back to see who thought this was funny. I didn't find it.

[Alouette]

there's one in the Cemeteries where they buried victims of Yellow Fever...then people forgot the location and a road partially covers it!

There are no "burials" in New Orleans--the water table is too high. All cemeteries are above-ground mausoleums.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I on the other hand, knowing NO and the reluctance to leave, wouldn't be surprised if it broke 20,000

[Tall_Texan]

We're laughing at the hamhanded media. Good thing *they* are running the rescue and recovery. They'd be even worse than the ones handling it now.