Many People Vanished During Helene's Flooding, and These Women Are Helping Loved Ones Seek Answers (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty

Officials are still unable to confirm the total number of victims who remain missing in the aftermath ofHurricane Helene— having previously warned the number was in the hundreds — but two women are working together to help give families answers.

Angela Scarberry, 47, of Tennessee, tells PEOPLE that she felt compelled to “take action” after learning one of her daughter’s friends was missing, and reading about the countless others still unaccounted for. (Her daughter’s friend,Boone McCrary, was later found dead on Oct. 1. after trying to help a man who was stranded in the floodwaters.)

So she created the Facebook group “Missing People in East TN & Western NC due to flooding.” As of Thursday, Oct. 10, there are nearly 90,000 members.

Angela Scarberry (right) and her family.Angela Scarberry

Angela Scarberry

Two weeks after Helene made landfall, the death toll has risen to at least 230, while officials continue to identify just how many remain missing.

As of Wednesday, Aug. 9,the Tennessee Emergency Managementreported that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation had six “active leads” on missing individuals.

In North Carolina, where the majority of deaths have occurred, the state’s emergency management agency told PEOPLE that they were “unable to provide an accurate number of missing persons at this time.” (Officials in Buncombe County, which was particularly hit hard, said last week thatmore than 200 were missing.)

“Search and rescue efforts remain on-going, and these numbers are fluid,” the state’s agency added in a statement.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office in South Carolina told PEOPLE it had no missing persons related to Helene.

Officials from Florida and Georgia did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for information.

Scarberry says that as more and more missing persons requests began to pile in she received a “heartfelt message” from another woman, Ellie Erickson, who wanted to join as one of their many volunteers.

Erickson, who lives in Maui, Hawaii, helped families on the island find missing loved ones following thedeadly wildfires in 2023, according to Scarberry.

Ben Hartinger (left) and Ellie Erickson (right).Ellie Erickson

Ellie Erickson

Erickson, 28, who works in sales for Marriot, thencreated a Google sheetto keep track of all the names and whether they’d been found or remained missing, using lessons from her own experience to make the sheet as streamlined as possible.

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Flooding in Atlanta following Hurricane Helene.Megan Varner/Getty

Megan Varner/Getty

With nearly 4,000 names on the list, not all of whom are actively missing, the gravity of their work has been “emotionally heavy” but seeing a “Found” on the list — and there are many — has been gratifying, says Erickson.

“Several families have reached out and shared experiences of reconnecting with loved ones, expressing profound relief and gratitude,” Scarberry tells PEOPLE. “One particularly moving story involved a mother and her son, they were found safe and the family member reached out to let us know that it was because of our efforts they were able to reunite with them. She said, ‘Because of a comment on my post, I was able to find out that they were safe days before they had cell access. ' ”

The women also make it clear that the list, while intended to be a resource to families, is not associated with any official state, county or agency, and relies on community-sourced information.

Flooding in Asheville, N.C., after Hurricane Helene.Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty

Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty

But no matter the recognition or success they’re seeing, Erickson says they’re going to keep working to “alleviate some of the stress and confusion families face when searching for missing loved ones.”

She adds, “Ultimately, we want to bring families the peace of mind they need during a crisis.”

To learn more about how to help with relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Helene,click here.

source: people.com