Dozens remain missing after the deadliest U. S. tornado in nearly six years.
BEAUREGARD, Ala. (AP) — The youngest victim was 6, the oldest 89. One extended family lost seven members.
The 23 people killed in the nation’s deadliest tornado in nearly six years came into focus Tuesday with the release of their names by coroner.
They included 6-year-old Armando Hernandez Jr., known as “AJ,” torn from his father’s arms two days after singing in his first-grade class musical; 10-year-old Taylor Thornton, who loved horses and was visiting a friend’s home when the twister struck; and David Wayne Dean, 53, nicknamed “Roaddog” because of his love for Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
“Just keep those families in your prayers,” Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said, two days after the disaster.
The search for victims, pets and belongings in and around the devastated rural community of Beauregard continued amid the din of beeping heavy machinery and whining chain saws. But Sheriff Jay Jones said the list of the missing had shrunk from dozens to just seven or eight.
“We’ve got piles of rubble that we are searching just to make sure,” said Opelika Fire Chief Byron Prather Jr. “We don’t think we’ll find nobody there, but we don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”
Four children were killed, ages 6,8,9 and 10. Prather said the mother of 6-year-old AJ rushed to the scene Sunday in distress.
“She just said her child was swept from the father’s arms,” Prather said. “A mother’s love for her child. How do you tell a mom that she can’t go look for her child? She went and tried to find her child, like everybody else.
