Friday, February 3, 2006
The Seattle Times
By Michael Kunzelman
The Associated Press
PASCAGOULA, Miss. ˜ Five months after Hurricane Katrina, a man and woman whose identities are still a mystery were laid to rest side-by-side Thursday, mourned by strangers in the first of what could be many such burials.
The Rev. Rex Yancey, who led the brief graveside service, urged the mourners to pray that the victims would someday be identified.
"I don't know your name, but you are not alone. We stand here with you as you journey home," the Baptist preacher said, reciting a poem he wrote for the occasion.
The bodies were found in different places about a week after the Aug. 29 hurricane. Nobody came forward to claim them, and after fingerprints, dental records and DNA tests failed to yield their identities, the local coroner decided the time had come to let them rest in peace.
More than 100 other unidentified victims of Katrina, mostly from New Orleans, still await burial. In all, more than 1,300 lives were lost to the storm.
Kevin Stephens, New Orleans' health director, said many residents driven from their homes by the hurricane do not have the means to return and look for missing relatives.
"We should take every reasonable measure to identify our citizens," he said. "Perhaps that justifies taking a little additional time."
On Thursday, several dozen people, including six sheriff's deputies serving as pallbearers, gathered at the city-owned cemetery to pay their respects. At the end of the service, many left flowers on the caskets. Some wiped away tears as they walked from the graves.
Lucille Nash, 70, of D'Iberville brought a red rose. Her daughter, Sheila Aultman, 46, died in the storm, but Nash did not learn of Aultman's death until November. "It could have very easily been her here," Nash said.
Joe Stout, 55, said he felt compelled to attend, even though he had no personal connection to the victims.
"God knew these people when they were born. He knew them when they died and he knew everything in between. They're only unknown to us," said Stout, whose home is in Pascagoula.
Mississippi's Jackson County was hit hard by the storm. Thirteen people died and thousands lost homes and businesses. For Thursday's service, a local funeral home donated the caskets, a florist furnished free flowers, the city set aside two burial plots, and Yancey, pastor at First Baptist Church, volunteered to officiate.
The granite headstones were not ready in time for the service. Michael Graham, assistant manager of Holder-Wells Funeral Home, said he and others are trying to come up with an appropriate epitaph.