COOKEVILLE, TN- Five children and 13 adults were killed in the March 3 tornado according to Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter at a press conference. One victim remains unidentified.
“There were five children under the age of 13 and 13 adults. We ask that you please keep those families in your prayers,” said Porter. “Our death toll still remains at 18. We have identified all of them but one.”
Porter said the one unidentified victim is a 30-35 year old white female. He said she had dark curly hair and was approximately 5’8” with no distinct identifying markings.
“We think she was found in the Echo Valley Apartment area,” said Porter.
Officials at the press conference said the missing persons list dropped dramatically overnight, from 88 to 22. People on the list should call 931-646-4636 to be removed. Porter said he hopes the list will be down to zero before the end of the day.
Missing persons list:
Rachel Baughman
Katherine Julian
Penny Penelope Cole
Diana and Robert Smith
Iris Walker
Dwight Gentry
David Phillips
Maureen Langford & Andi Otis
Tommy Knight
Robin & Bethany Babb
Joey Dedemicis
Joe Murphy Jr
Denton Nelson
Douglas Loftis
Rick Stegill
Ryan Packinghan
Steven Mayo
Karissa Solberg
Breanna Shelby
Joyce Wilson
Cleburn Rice
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said search and rescue workers have searched all the houses standing in the effected area. He added there is still approximately 40% of the rubble to search through.
Farris also said volunteers and law enforcement officers will be searching a 20-25 acre piece of land they are particularly concerned about on Wednesday.
“The field is a section between the two roads that were hit the worst,” said Farris. “We’re concerned the growth is six to seven foot high, it’s a marshy area and it’s thick. We’re going to do that by grid search. We’ll be doing that in six man teams. It’s one of the priorities today to try and get through that as much as possible.”
Officials will give an update on the search and rescue process at a press conference at 5:15 Wednesday.