Another Katrina body found, in bathtub. Why not found before?

[uppityperson]

Edited to add picture.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-15/114855397572910.xml
Body found in home close to SUNO campus
Person was probably Katrina victim, police say
Thursday, May 25, 2006
From staff reports

A decomposed body believed to be that of a Hurricane Katrina victim was found Wednesday afternoon in the bathtub of a house across the street from the Southern University at New Orleans, police said. The gender and approximate age were not provided by police, who said the body was in an advanced state of decomposition.

A Texas company that collects addresses from loved ones and friends of people missing since Katrina checked the house about 2:30 p.m. and found the body, at least partially clothed, draped face down over the rim of the bathtub at 6304 Campus Blvd., New Orleans police said. The specific cause of death wasn't known, but police made a preliminary classification of the death as Katrina-related, they said.

The company, Victim Relief, sends two-person teams to check houses on their missing persons list. Two chaplains from the company, which is based in Richardson, Texas, but has a trailer on North Claiborne and Caffin avenues in the Lower 9th Ward, found the body. The body was removed by the coroner's office.

Harold Clark, director of public relations at SUNO, said the house was in a neighborhood that is not part of the SUNO campus, which had "four to 11 feet of water." An apparent watermark on the single-story house, which was raised several feet, was at least eight or nine feet from the ground.

[Saphire]

1. hard to believe a year later, and still finding them....WTF!!!

I am ashamed that our govt. has taken this course. They should have been found within 2 weeks at the latest.

[Taverner]

2. It burns me that wingers say that there was no Katrina devastation

When shit like this happens...

[SmokingJacket]

24. Could anyone actually say that????

That blows my mind.

[HeeBGBz]

25. Woah, who said that?

They need to trot their ignorant asses down here.

[aquart]

3. Because we've only just begun to look.

There's no acceptable excuse for this. None.

[uppityperson]

5. "they searched all the houses" I call BS on any such claim

so many houses have no entry on the X's. This one hurts. Here's the picture


Is the house collapsed? Why wasn't it searched before? argh argh argh argh argh

[LA lady]

10. Don't judge

Please don't judge unless you have been down there and seen the situation. I have family members there now, some places were practically inacessible. Many volunteers and govt workers poured their hearts into trying to help.

[uppityperson]

11. Hope you all are doing ok. It is not the vollies and gvt workers, it is

the whole thing. Check out the picture of the house in my other link above, not collapsed. My gripe is not with the vollies or people who were working, who are working so hard, but with the whole damn situation and administration's response, FEMA cutting, etc etc etc. Where are your family members? Hope you are doing ok.

[LA lady]

13. OK here

I am in Northern LA but had many family members in N.O. and Kenner. All are fine and back in their houses.

My Mom and Uncle are down there now doing volunteer work.

[aquart]

15. And I bless every one of them.

But the homes should not have been left inaccessible. This is an American city, not postwar Berlin.

[slackmaster]

4. Pardon the metaphor but this doesn't pass the smell test

Is it possible this is a murder victim that was dumped some time after the floods?

ETA the slow pace of cleanup could provide abundant expedient disposal sites for murderers.

[uppityperson]

6. why do you mean?

[slackmaster]

8. It's not clear whether or not the house had been previously searched

It would seem that even the most cursory search would have turned up an adult corpse in the bathtub.

[uppityperson]

9. however, according to plan, they all were supposed to be.

this pisses me off, really. A deal was swung (sept or oct) that houses flooded less than 6 ft and not showing "signs of life" did not have to be searched. I am glad that these people are searching houses of people reported missing. Looks like a good and interesting caring group.

[MadHound]

7. Sure, it's possible

But probably:shrug: I tend to think not. Eight to nine feet of rushing floodwater is utterly devestating, it could have very well picked this person up and flung them around the room, beating them to death before he/she came to rest on the tub.

And it wouldn't suprise me to find a body or two in a bathroom. Perhaps a relatively new transplant from tornado country, where it is recommended that people head to the bathroom during a tornado if they don't have a basement. The bathroom is generally considered the strongest room in the house.

But I'm sure the corener will find out soon enough. However it happened though it's still a tragedy.

[OneBlueSky]

16. the fact is, many of the houses were NOT searched . . .

other than maybe a cursory glance through a first floor window . . .

the day after the hurricane, I was waiting for massive mobilization of US troops, National Guard, park rangers, even Boy Scouts if need be to begin the process of cutting into the roofs of ALL inundated homes to search for survivors . . . when, in the ensuing days, it became obvious that this was NOT going to happen, I wondered (and posted here) how different the response would have been in a wealthy white community . . .

and I'm still wondering . . .

[rman]

18. "slow pace of cleanup" also explains why Katerina victims

are still being found.

[leftofthedial]

12. because we live in a third-world banana republic now

Bushlandia, or is it Dumbfuckistan?


even though we are not any of these anymore, our reputation as the world's wealthiest and largest democratic superpower prevents the rest of the world from sending aid like they would to similar countries, for example, The Honduras, Guatemala, or Haiti.

[roguevalley]

14. the terror all those people felt when they knew they were trapped

haunts me. Imagine, standing in deep water with your babies and being trapped. God rest their souls.

[Swamp Rat]

17. I've seen plenty of houses like this one

And they still smell very bad.

[peacebuzzard]

22. So did I SR. The devastation was so immense

I went into many homes myself where it was impossible to stay in very long (we were with the animal search and rescue).
The homes were dark (no power) moldy and an incredible stench.
I wouldn't doubt for a moment the numbers of unfound bodies.
There was and is a huge lack of resources. As usual, those emergency funds went elsewhere.
on edit, thanks for rebuilding your city...I read one of your posts about rebuilding some homes there.
If I could financially or physically help out anymore, I certainly would.
Um abraco....:hug: :hug:

[uppityperson]

19. And ANOTHER one today, mid-town

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2006_05_27.html#145410
Saturday, May 27, 2006

Katrina Victim's Body found in NO
A firefighter search team found the body of an unidentified Hurricane Katrina victim Saturday morning at a Banks Street home in Mid-City.
The discovery came about 9:45 a.m. at 3008 Banks St. as 16 firefighters from the New Orleans Fire Department and Southeast Louisiana Task Force 1 checked houses on a list of missing persons. The list was prepared by the Louisiana Family Assistance Center in Baton Rouge.
There are 47 addresses on an updated search list now in use by the search team, according to the New Orleans Fire Department.
Other details about the body discovery weren’t immediately available. The successful search follows the recovery of a decomposed body believed to be that of a Katrina victim on Wednesday at a home near Southern University at New Orleans. That body was discovered by a Texas company, Victim Relief, that sends two-person teams to check homes on a missing-persons list it prepares using leads from relatives

[hedgehog]

20. Because Bush doesn't feel that he should look out for US citizens

We may never fully realize how thoroughly the Federal government abrogated its responsibilities after Katrina. Even more sickening than this story is the suspected euthanasia of hospital patients three days after the hurricane. The staff had had no outside contact and didn't have any way to move these patients to safety. Three days after the storm and the staff at a hospital had not been contacted by anyone in authority? They should have spread the word that Arab terrorists were holed up inside!

[mnhtnbb]

21. Unfuckingbelievable. Absolutely disgraceful.

The callous disregard for human life from this Administration is beyond belief. The hypocrisy is mind boggling.

Rest in peace, poor soul.

[earth mom]

23. In any other part of the U.S. cleanup and rebuilding would already

be going on! This is simply shameful! :grr: :cry:

[malaise]

26. So much for Bush's promise of

dignity for the dead od NOLA. This is too sad.

[Rex]

27. A atrocity that just keeps on giving.

Wonder how long we will continue to find bodies or if people are still dying for lack of the basics. This is a crime against humanity, one that could have been minimized or eliminated with little funding.