Number on Joplin missing list drops to 39 over the weekend

JOPLIN, Missouri - Only 39 names on the original list of 232 remain unaccounted for in Joplin more than a week after a deadly tornado ravaged a roughly-13-mile portion of the city.

The updated list can be found here or by going to dps.mo.gov. Officials are expected to release a new list today at a 1 p.m. news conference.

The Missouri Department of Public Safety said Sunday that 39 people are unaccounted for, but that there are four more people who family members have reported as deceased. DPS says those four haven't been officially confirmed dead, however.

The May 22 tornado -- an EF-5 packing 200 mph winds – had killed 139 people as of early Monday and injured more than 900 others. Tallying and identifying the dead and the missing has proven a complex and sometimes confusing exercise for authorities and loved ones.

The tornado’s destructive path was about twice as long as initially thought, believed to have been on the ground closer to 13 miles than the original estimate of six.

The number of names on the list has fallen quickly since its release on Thursday. The number was cut nearly in half in 24 hours, when 90 people on the list were confirmed to be alive.

Over the weekend, another 47 were located alive, while the number of those on the list confirmed to be dead jumped to 80.

Mo. Gov. Jay Nixon handed over the handling of the thousands of missing persons reports filed after Sunday’s tornado with several different agencies to DPS, who consolidated the multiple lists to 232 names.

Shortly after the release of the first list Thursday, the first person named on the list, 75-year-old Sally Adams, was found in a wooden chair outside the wreckage of her home, cuddling her cat.

Also located alive Friday were four people last seen at Greenbriar Nursing Home, one of them a 5-year-old boy.

Last week, the owner of the home reported 11 people were killed there when the tornado hit. Four names on the list from the nursing home had been confirmed dead. Two more remained unaccounted for It wasn't clear if either may have been among the 11 the owner reported dead.

Among those confirmed dead since Thursday were 29-year-old Thomas Russell Howard, 5-year-old Harli Howard and 19-month-old Hazye Howard, all of Webb City, Missouri. Clyde Coleman, 60, of Salina, Kansas; Adam Darnaby, who would have turned 28 on Thursday, residence not listed; and 40-year-old John Thomas, residence not listed; were also confirmed dead.

If you know the whereabouts of anyone on the list, you are urged to call (417) 895-6868. If you cannot locate a loved one who is NOT on the list, call (417) 659-5464.