Body of last Hurricane Helene victim in Tennessee found 2 years later

Body of last Hurricane Helene victim in Tennessee found 2 years later Nancy Tucker, 76, disappeared along with her husband, whose body was recovered within a couple of days - Bookmark The remains of the final missing victim in Tennessee from Hurricane Helene have been located, two years after the storm laid waste to Appalachian mountain communities with catastrophic floods. Nancy Tucker, 76, vanished along with her husband, Jimmy Tucker, when rising floodwaters from the Nolichucky River carried away their residence in rural Washington County, located in the northeastern corner of Tennessee, on Sept. 27, 2024. While his body was retrieved within days, hers was not found until Saturday, according to Susan Saylor, a spokesperson for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. The couple's son also lived at the home, but was at work when the flooding hit, Saylor said. Helene claimed more than 250 lives and generated nearly $80 billion in damage stretching from Florida to the Carolinas. Across the mountain border between North Carolina and Tennessee, rainfall reaching up to 30 inches (76 centimeters) turned gentle streams into rushing torrents that moved boulders, trees, vehicles, and houses, breaking flood records that had stood for a century. Many victims were carried away in the deluge. In North Carolina, the body of Alena Ayers remains unrecovered. Her case prompted state lawmakers last year to pass Alena's Law, making it simpler to declare a person legally dead if they disappear during a natural disaster. First responders in Tennessee had narrowed the search for Nancy Tucker over the last two years to an area of the Cherokee National Forest known as Jackson Island. However, they faced physical and administrative hurdles. James Matthews, of the local Emergency Management Agency, said search personnel had logged over 400 miles (644 kilometers) on foot through the terrain since February, but were unable to search through massive debris mounds. Some rose up to 40 feet (12 meters) high and were packed with rocks, trees, cars, and large propane tanks. Because the site was on federal land and believed to contain Native American burial grounds, local emergency crews were prohibited from bringing in the heavy machinery required to clear the wreckage, Saylor explained. Responders had to wait for federal authorities, who awarded a contract for the clearing work this summer. "On Saturday, I got the call that I've been waiting for for two years — just four days after the operation began," Matthews said. Tucker's remains were spotted on Saturday, but recovery work continued through Sunday evening, with Matthews among those present at the site on Sunday. "The moment we found a clear indication that this was Mrs. Tucker, everyone on the scene — we stopped. We cried. All of us cried. And we prayed," he said. A medical examiner confirmed the final, positive identification on Monday afternoon. An obituary for Jimmy Tucker from 2024 noted that he and Nancy met while serving in the U.S. Army and were married for 44 years. When asked why crews never abandoned the search, Saylor noted that Washington County Sheriff Keith Sexton had pledged to locate every missing person after the storm. "Why would you not want to bring what you could bring to the family, who had already lost a father?" Saylor asked. "There was never a question of stopping."