Remains of last Tennessee Helene victim found two years later
The remains of the last Tennessee victim of Hurricane Helene have been found, two years after the storm devastated Appalachian mountain towns with flooding that swept away homes and communities. The discovery brings closure to a search that responders said they were determined to see through, no matter how long it took.
Nancy Tucker, 76, disappeared along with her husband Jimmy Tucker when flooding from the Nolichucky River took their home in rural Washington County in the northeastern corner of Tennessee on Sept. 27, 2024, according to Susan Saylor, spokesperson for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department.
Jimmy Tucker’s body was recovered within a couple of days, Saylor said. Their son lived in the home as well but was at work when the flood hit, Saylor said.
Helene killed more than 250 people and caused nearly $80 billion in damage from Florida to the Carolinas, according to the source reporting.
James Matthews, with the local Emergency Management Agency, said that since February, search crews had logged over 400 miles walking through the area but could not search through debris piles. Some reached 40 feet high in places and, in addition to trees and rocks, were filled with cars and large propane tanks.
First responders had narrowed the search area to a portion of the Cherokee National Forest called Jackson Island. Because the area was federal land and thought to contain Native American burial sites, local responders were not allowed to bring in the heavy equipment needed for debris removal, Saylor said. The federal government awarded a contract for the removal work this summer.
“On Saturday, I got the call that I’ve been waiting for for two years , just four days after the operation began,” Matthews said.
Nancy Tucker’s remains were discovered on Saturday, but removal of the remains continued into Sunday evening. Matthews was among the group at the site on Sunday.
“The moment we found a clear indication that this was Mrs. Tucker, everyone on the scene , we stopped. We cried. All of us cried. And we prayed,” he said.
The final, positive identification was made by a medical examiner on Monday afternoon.
An obituary for Jimmy Tucker from 2024 said that he and Nancy met while they were both serving in the U.S. Army and were married for 44 years.
When asked why first responders never gave up the search, Saylor said Washington County Sheriff Keith Sexton had vowed to recover every missing person after the storm.
“Why would you not want to bring what you could bring to the family, who had already lost a father?” Saylor asked. “There was never a question of stopping.”
