The string of tornadoes that tore through parts of the Midwest and the South last week left behind destruction and debris — and families across nine states still searching for their loved ones. In Kentucky alone, one of the hardest-hit areas by the tornado outbreak, at least 74 people are dead, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) has said. The number may still climb.
Here’s what we know about some of the people who lost their lives.
An elderly couple still deeply in love, their bodies found together
They were still deeply in love, having renewed their marriage vows just a few years earlier, in a ceremony that re-created their wedding day. Dying by each other’s sides, the bodies of Billy and Judy Miller were found in the debris of their home, wrecked by the tornado that struck Bremen, Ky. The septuagenarian couple’s granddaughter Haley Burton told The Washington Post that “there was no other love like theirs.”
Billy, a veteran who ran the family farm, and Judy, a homemaker, documented 56 years of marriage in photographs that following the storm were found by strangers and shared on social media — taking the final chapter of their love story to the world. Read more.
County jail worker who protected inmates in his last moments
Robert Daniel, a 47-year-old deputy jailer at the Graves County Jail, was one of the eight people killed at the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory, which was entirely flattened by the tornado in Kentucky. The father of seven had just called his younger brother the day before the tragedy hit, to tell him that he was excited to start a supervising role that would put seven detainees in a work-release program under his charge. Daniel, a doting grandfather, was described by his family as a mix of no-nonsense and big-hearted — the perfect combination for his new job.
Graves County Jailer George Workman said Daniel’s last act was one of heroism. “The last thing he did was making sure [the inmates] were taken care of, even at his own peril,” Workman told The Post, his voice faltering. Read more.
Four family members part of a tightknit Amish community
Jacob and Emma Gingerich, both 31, lived in a mobile home in Mayfield, Ky., and were relative newcomers who had only moved to the city in 2020 with their five children. Part of the local Amish community, the family of seven adhered to ideals of simplicity and were well loved by their neighbors. Searchers found the bodies of the couple as well as two of their children, 7-year-old Marilyn and 4-year-old Daniel, over the weekend. The three remaining children are alive.
The loss of four members of a single family has shattered the local Amish community, part of a conservative sect that believes in remaining separate from the modern world. By Monday, relatives and mourners had gathered to grieve in the rural area south of Mayfield, filing past the bodies and singing hymns, in keeping with custom. Read more.
A five-month-old baby, one of the youngest victims
Chase Oglesby was only part of this world for 5 months. His great-grandfather Robert “Bobby” Pierce, 72, said the tornado picked up his grandson’s trailer and tossed it into a tree. Chase’s parents, Andrew Oglesby, and his wife, Charity, were flung out of the trailer; both survived but were critically injured.
The infant is one of the youngest victims so far of the devastating tornadoes. Beshear, the governor, said at least six of the dead in Kentucky were children aged under 18. Read more.