Personal items buried by Oso mudslide handled with care

OSO — Hundreds of pieces of personal property have been recovered from the site of the March 22 mudslide near Oso.

Books. Photos. Rings.

Guns. Flags. Computers.

Cars. Cameras. Wills.

As many as 50 items are still being recovered each day as workers search and sift through debris, said Gary Haakenson, the Snohomish County manager overseeing the slide recovery efforts.

Officials have been working to clean and restore the items and return them to families in a careful and respectful way, Haakenson said.

Some of the recovered items belonged to the 43 people who were killed in the slide. One of the victims, Kris Regelbrugge, has not been found.

The items are stored in a reunification center at an undisclosed location.

Many of the recovered items were muddy but not seriously damaged, Haakenson said. The property is laid out on tables and shelving units. Families are given private time to look.

Local experts have helped, including those specially trained in finding owner information inside computers, or in restoring photos, Haakenson said.

“There’s just a whole lot of work that’s going on behind the scenes,” he said.

Searchers have kept a covered space set aside at the debris field where found property is taken and initially cleaned before being sent to the reunification center.

Each family who has lost loved ones or property has been invited to the center, Haakenson said.

“Some have chosen not to. It’s just too painful,” he said. “Some have said, ‘We’ll do it later.’”

Some have made multiple visits.

“It’s a very, very difficult process for families to go through, to walk in there and see some of the belongings of their loved ones,” Haakenson said.

Many items have been returned to their owners. Some folks don’t want the property back, Haakenson said. Other families have expressed interest in donating mementos to a memorial.

Auto insurance companies have been involved because of recovered vehicles.

There are still questions left to sort out, such as what happens to property that is not claimed.

Sensitive items, such as tax records, firearms and wills, are being kept secure by the county sheriff’s office.

Work also continues to restore private land that was damaged or otherwise affected by rescue and recovery efforts, particularly lots along Highway 530, Haakenson said.

The active search for human remains at the site ended in late April.

Some 200,000 cubic yards of dirt and debris are still being sifted. In some areas, the mud was 25 feet deep.

The sheriff’s office still has been sending search-and-rescue crews back into the debris in recent months in hopes of bringing the last victim home.

Crews with heavy equipment are expected to be working 10-hour days in the slide area through September, primarily for searching and removing debris.

The damaged highway is open to two-way traffic, with “substantial completion” of permanent repairs anticipated before the rainy season begins in the fall.

Officials have repeatedly asked the public to be respectful while driving past the site, to stay in their cars, to not steal anything, and to not wander around in an area considered by many to be hallowed ground.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.