More human remains found in Washington State mudslide debris

EVERETT, Wash., May 23 (UPI) -- Another body has been recovered from the debris left by the deadly Oso mudslide in Washington state, the first to be found in more than three weeks.

Two people are still missing. The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said Thursday in a statement that the remains had not been identified as either Steven Hadaway or Molly Kristine "Kris" Regelbrugge.

On March 22, a hillside gave way, burying a section of the hamlet of Oso, Wash., about 90 miles north of Seattle, and blocking the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River. By April 29, 41 bodies had been recovered and identified by the Snohomish County medical examiner.

Hadaway, a U.S. Marine veteran living in Darrington, Wash., was in the neighborhood installing a satellite dish when the mudslide hit. His brother, John, said that because of the damage done to the victims the latest discovery could be body parts from someone already identified as dead.

"Do I get my hopes up? I try not to," John Hadaway told the Everett Herald. "When you are out there and you see, you understand."

John Hadaway hopes the bodies of all the slide victims will eventually be identified. When the search began, officials warned some might never be recovered.

"It could be a week. It could be a month," he said. "It could be six months from now, but I am going to believe they will find them."

Regelbrugge and her husband lived in Oso. The body of John Regelbrugge III, a Navy commander, has already been found.

The mudslide is the third deadliest natural disaster in the history of Washington, after the eruption of Mount St. Helens and an avalanche in the Cascades that buried two passenger trains.