Saturday, December 31, 2005

Abandonned by government, man finds mother's body.

On the Left Tip.
Robert Green naturally assumed that his mother's body would be found in the recovery effort and would be taken to - well, to wherever the bodies of the victims of Katrina were taken. The process he had to go through to even get that information was ridiculous. For weeks after the hurricane he literally got the runaround. Finally, they provided Joyce's X-rays and their own DNA samples to what seemed like the right agency to locate his mother's remains. They called the Coroner's office every day. Nothing. No Joyce.

Finally Robert's twin, David, had had enough. Enough of being forgotten, enough of the runaround, enough of being told that their mother's body couldn't be located. He loaded up on shovels and a pick axe and tools and returned to the vicinity in the 9th ward where he thought his mother's body may be located. He recognized a landmark from that harrowing day and, not three minutes later, found the remains of his mother. This happened today. He didn't have to dig - he didn't need the pick axe or saw or shovel.

All that was left of Joyce was her skull, clothes, and skeleton - the ravages of four months of being the abandoned dead had taken its toll.

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