As the official death toll from Hurricane Helene crosses 220, hundreds of missing persons cases across the U.S. southeast are feared to become body recoveries.
There are still 75 open inquiries about missing people in Asheville, North Carolina, alone as of Friday, CNN reported.
The fiancée of Julie Le Roux desperately searched for days after she went missing in the floodwaters that rushed through their friend’s home in the nearby town of Marion, he told the News and Observer.
Jonathan Norwood, who was injured when he was also swept away by the rushing water, said “it happened so fast.”
“All I remember is a bunch of crashing noises, and then I was underwater, and that was it,” he told the outlet.
In another interview with ABC News, Norwood said he “crawled around screaming, looking for her, and I just couldn’t find her,” after his legs were crushed by debris.
After search parties and rescuers searched relentlessly, an unfortunate update on Norwood’s GoFundMe page revealed that Le Roux’s body had been found.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the passing of John’s fiancé, Julie. Unfortunately she did not survive the storm,” Norwood’s sister, Maggie, wrote. “We take comfort in knowing she is at peace and no longer suffering. Julie was such a kind hearted soul, absolutely a match made in heaven for John. Now we must learn to navigate life without her.”
Le Roux’s obituary states that she was 33 years old when she was killed in the storm, and she was a beloved artist who “approached every experience with enthusiasm and a sense of wonder.”
U.S. Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood Randall told ABC News that there could be up to “600 people unaccounted for.”
Those missing people include Rosa Maria Andrade Reynoso and Steven Cloyd of Tennessee and Kim Ashby, Omar Khan, and Lyn McFarland of North Carolina, according to CNN.
Their families, friends, and neighbors told the outlet of their terrifying final moments before they were whisked away to uncertain fates.
Carina Alonso last heard from Reynoso, her cousin and a 29-year-old mother of two, when she called her from her job at the Impact Plastics plant in Erwin as the water rose.
“She knew she wasn’t going to be able to get out, especially since she doesn’t know how to swim,” Alonso said. “That’s when she just lost it.”
By the time management at the plastic manufacturing plant dismissed their employees, Alonso said “it was already too late because the cars were moving away with the water.”
Impact Plastics has since come under fire from several employees who barely got away with their lives after six workers were swept away from the parking lot. Three have been confirmed dead, and three are still missing, including Reynoso.
Keli Cloyd said she called her son, Matthew Cloyd, to alert him that his father was in danger after she received a horrific text: “Starting to float away.”
Matthew and his younger brother drove 700 miles from Rockford, Illinois before Steven’s Jeep was later found about a quarter mile away from his home — without him in it.
The son described his father as a tough guy who has “got one of the biggest hearts.”
“He’d give you the last $5 in his pocket,” Matthew told CNN.
Ashby, a 20-year veteran teacher, was described as “the glue that holds everyone together,” by her daughter, Jessica Meidinger.
Ashby’s husband, Rod Ashby, had even gone to extensive measures to ensure that the home he built for them “with his own two hands” was above the flood level from the nearby Elk River.
“When he was building the house he marked the trees where the typical flooding gets to, and also to the highest historical level of flooding, and then he built the house above that,” Meidinger said. “So it was like 20 feet above the ground.”
Despite these precautions, the Ashbys’ home was not high enough to withstand the flash flooding that transformed the area into a rushing river.
“He heard a crack. He went outside again and saw that the footer of the home was gone,” Lauren Meidinger, Jessica’s wife, said of her in-laws. “He ran in and told Kim, ‘Hey, we need to get dressed. We need to evacuate.’”
It was too late — their home was swept away in “seconds,” CNN reported.
While Rod was able to grab Kim and their dogs as they were flung downstream, the section of wall they were clinging on to broke apart.
“The last time anyone has seen my mom,” Jessica said.
Lauren said her father-in-law is “not in a great place” emotionally and just “wants to find Kim.”
“So overall, he just needs to be around family, but he wants to get back up there and keep looking,” she said, adding that Kim is a “fighter” who previously beat breast cancer.
Omar Khan’s neighbor could not help but feel guilty that she was unable to save him.
The woman, only identified as “K.M.” by CNN, said “his face does not leave my head.”
Khan was last seen trapped on his Asheville apartment’s balcony screaming for help with two other neighbors.
“Once the building shifted and moved, all we heard was a scream and that was it,” K.M said, describing how the apartments floated away. “I just want everybody to know we tried to help. We tried.”
“I hate that I couldn’t really get to him. We all tried from this end,” she added.
Khan’s wife, whom he lived separately from, revealed his final text to CNN.
Zubila Shafiq told the outlet how she received his last message from a neighbor’s phone on Friday morning, reading, “I love you and the boys. Please tell them that. I hope you guys are okay.”
Khan and Shafiq are the parents of seven and nine-year-old sons.
“I drove everywhere all over town. I went to every single evacuation site. I kept asking, ‘Where else, where else, where else can I go?’” the heartbroken wife told the outlet.
Even though hope for finding survivors is dropping in the community, she has not stopped searching.
“I just told (the children) we’re looking. We’re going to keep looking. We’re just going to keep looking for daddy,” Shafiq said through tears.
The sister-in-law of Lyn McFarland, 68, said they last heard from him on September 26, just before Helene brought devastation to his Asheville neighborhood.
He was last seen by his neighbors drifting away on his roof with his dog, Poco, CNN reported.
Jennifer Hepler even said that her brother-in-law had a home that was built to allow floodwater to drain out.
“He has doors that he can open on either side of his garage, and it just lets the water flow right through,” she said.
“He was on top of his house,” McFarland’s neighbor, Tony Dilaurentis, said. “And the last I saw, I ran down the hill, his house was gone, and I heard people yelling from the porch out there, and I just saw a man on a roof. I thought it was Lyn.”
Hepler said it is “heartbreaking” to wait for more information on her family member’s whereabouts.
She added that she hopes McFarland is safe somewhere and just has not managed to contact his relatives.
“That’s kind of what we’re hoping for, is just that he’s somewhere and just can’t get in touch right now, and that we can track him down,” Hepler said. “We’re just continuing to keep hope alive and hope for the best outcome.”
