[StBernard] For parish, a grim task isn't over yet

[Westley Annis]

For parish, a grim task isn't over yet

By ALEX BRANCH
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. -- Whirling over the Louisiana marshland in a Bell
206 LongRanger helicopter, Capt. Jimmy Bartholomae searched for grim clues
early Thursday: cows gathered in a circle, for instance.

If they face outward, it probably means one is giving birth and the herd is
protecting her. But if they face inward, well, that could mean something
worse.

"They tend to gather around the remains of dead things," Bartholomae said.
"Might be worth taking a look."

Nearly three months after Hurricane Katrina struck, much of Louisiana is
focused on rebuilding and on identifying the almost 1,100 bodies that have
already been recovered. But Bartholomae and other sheriff's officers in the
devastated St. Bernard Parish are still searching for undiscovered victims.

So far, the parish has 125 confirmed dead, but up to 30 parish residents
remain missing. Some of those may already be in the state morgue, not yet
identified. Others may be among the bodies residents said they saw being
swept into the marshland through a broken levee after the storm.

"We know we haven't found those bodies yet," Bartholomae said. "We're not
expecting to find them in big numbers, but each and every one matters. Their
relatives come to us and ask if we know anything about their loved ones."

Some residents returning last week to their ravaged homes found the bodies
of missing loved ones still inside, prompting Sheriff Jack Stephens to
criticize state authorities for not doing a more complete search in heavily
damaged areas.

But the most difficult bodies to find will be any that were carried by 14-
to 18-foot floodwaters into the marshes that occupy about 75 percent of the
parish's 504 square miles. Shrimp boats and fishing boats, barges and
trailers for 18-wheelers were shoved into the marshes from miles away.
Bodies may have been washed there, too, officers say.

Bob Johannessen, spokesman for the Louisiana Health and Hospitals
Department, said state officials are also concerned that Katrina washed
bodies out to sea or into southern Louisiana marshes.

Most days, Bartholomae and pilot Bubba Guillot go up in the helicopter,
which the Federal Emergency Management Agency pays for. They fly low, their
eyes fixed out the windows.

Usually still green this time of year, the marsh is brown and muddy and
littered with debris -- cars, parts of roofs, overturned boats, the tattered
remains of fishing villages and camps. Some debris is surrounded by murky
water.

"There are going to be bodies in these debris fields," said Guillot, a pilot
with Air Center Helicopters in Fort Worth, gesturing below. "There's no way
they've all been found under that stuff. Some of these places, no one's been
able to get to and see what's there."

Because there was nowhere to land, the helicopter crew marked possible
locations of bodies with global positioning satellite equipment. Airboats
would be sent in later to search. Marooned shrimp boats are of special
interest because some shrimpers were said to have tried to ride out the
storm onboard, Bartholomae said.

"And I know these people, so I believe some of them would," he said. "These
boats are their livelihoods. We've got to get down there with each one and
look inside."

Every week, the small newspaper that serves the parish, The St. Bernard
News, publishes a list of deceased Katrina victims from the community. St.
Bernard authorities say they won't stop searching until the list is
complete.

"Their families deserve to know where they are," Bartholomae said. "If
they're out here, we want to find them."

"Their families deserve to know where they are. If they're out here, we want
to find them."


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Alex Branch, (817) 390-7689 abranch at star-telegram.com