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Death Toll From Mudslide Increased To 27

In Arlington, Wash., neighbors and businesses are raising money for the families of those affected by the mudslide in Oso, a part of that city.
Elaine Thompson
/
AP
In Arlington, Wash., neighbors and businesses are raising money for the families of those affected by the mudslide in Oso, a part of that city.
This post was updated at 1:45 p.m. ET.

The search continues in Oso, Wash., for victims of the massive mudslide that swept through about 50 homes and properties on March 22.

We reported Monday evening that the death toll stood at 24. Of those, 19 people had been identified. Tuesday morning in Washington State, the local medical examiner updated the death toll: 27 people were confirmed to have been killed; the number of those who had been identified remained at 19. (We added the new death toll figure to this post at 1:45 p.m. ET.)

Over the past 10 days, authorities have worked hard to winnow the list of names on the list of those who have been missing since the disaster. On All Things Considered, NPR's Martin Kaste reported about why the number of names on that list once rose to 176, before coming down.

One reason it got so high, Martin said, is that authorities collected reports from several outlets — including the Internet. They consolidated those lists. Then detectives set to work.

Monday evening, Snohomish County authorities felt confident enough in their work that they released a list of 22 people who remain missing. There were still 22 names on that list by mid-morning Tuesday in Washington State. According to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, "anyone who should not be on this list is asked to call the Sheriff's Office tip line immediately at (425) 388-3845."

As you'll see, those who are missing range in age from 2 to 91. The names, as reported by the sheriff's office (the mailing addresses in the community say Arlington, Wash.):

1. Dequiletts, Ronald M., 52, Arlington and Bothell
2. Durnell, Thomas M., 55, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
3. Gullikson, Bonnie J., 91, SR 530 NE, Arlington
4. Gustafson, Mark J., 54, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
5. Hadaway, Steven N., 53, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
6. Halstead, Jerry L., 74, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
7. Halstead, Gloria J., 67, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
8. Harris, Denver P., 13, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
9. Harris, Steve, 52, Arlington
10. Harris, Theresa, 52, Arlington
11. Miller, Larry, 58, Arlington
12. Miller, Sandra, 64, Arlington
13. Regelbrugge, Molly K., 44, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
14. Ruthven, Katie, 35, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
15. Ruthven, Wyatt, 4, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
16. Satterlee, Thom, 64, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
17. Satterlee, Mary, 61, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
18. Slauson, Lon E., 59, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
19. Spillers, Billy, 30, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
20. Spillers, Brooke, 2, Steelhead Dr., Arlington
21. Webb, Delaney M., 19, Steelhead Dr., Arlington (alternate address is Marysville)
22. Mangual, Jovan E., 13, Steelhead Dr., Arlington

The county's medical examiner on Monday released a list of 18 people whose bodies had been identified. A 19th victim's name was released Tuesday, after notification of the victim's family. The youngest person known to have died was just 4 months old. The names, as reported by the medical examiner's office:

19. Brandy L. Ward, 58, from Arlington, WA
18. Gerald E. Logan, 63, from Arlingon, WA
17. Sonoah Heustis, 4 months, from Arlington, WA
16. Judee S. Vandenburg, 64, from Arlington, WA
15. Amanda B. Lennick, 31, from Arlington, WA
14. Shelley L. Bellomo, 55, from Arlington, WA
13. Hunter Ruthven, 6, from Arlington, WA
12. Julie A. Farnes, 59, from Arlington, WA
11. Alan M. Bejvl, 21, from Arlington, WA
10. Leon J. Regelbrugge III, 49, from Arlington, WA
9. Joseph R. Miller, 47, from Arlington, WA
8. Summer R. Raffo, 36, from Arlington, WA
7. Lewis F. Vandenburg, 71, from Arlington, WA
6. Shane M. Ruthven, 41, from Arlington, WA
5. William E. Welsh, 66, from Arlington, WA
4. Kaylee B. Spillers, 5, from Arlington, WA
3. Linda L. McPherson, 69, from Arlington, WA
2. Stephen A. Neal, 55, from Darrington, WA
1. Christina A. Jefferds, 45, from Arlington, WA

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.