Thursday, January 13, 2005
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January 13, 2005Father's Grim Search Ends as 4 Bodies Are FoundBy CHARLIE LeDUFF and NICK MADIGAN LA CONCHITA, Calif., Jan. 12 - Jimmie Wallet's worst fears were confirmed in the darkness of early morning.Frantic and exhausted after more than 36 hours of searching for his wife and three of his daughters in the rubble of La Conchita's fallen mountain, a stricken Mr. Wallet absorbed the full weight of the calamity before dawn on Wednesday, when searchers discovered the lifeless body of his wife, Michelle. An hour later, the corpse of one of the girls was found nearby. Next, the body of a second daughter. Then a third.The authorities believe that there are at least three more people buried in the wreckage."The kids," muttered Capt. Drue Holthe of the Montecito Fire Department, who has been working on the pile of mud, wrecked homes and crushed automobiles since the palisade succumbed on Monday afternoon to the rain that had swallowed Southern California for nearly a week. "It's really hard," the captain said. "We're all family men. Your children are the dearest things in your life."The unearthing of Michelle Wallet, 36, and the three girls, Hannah, 10; Raven, 6; and Paloma, 2, brought to 10 the number of confirmed dead since the hill collapsed, burying about 15 houses and damaging an additional 16. A fourth daughter, Jasmine, 16, lives in Ventura. For Mr. Wallet, 38, a lean, itinerant carpenter who wears dreadlocks, it was the worst kind of disaster after a string of misfortunes. Four months ago, he was on the drift, with no home or solid employment prospects, when he and his family were taken in by Charly Womack, a fellow carpenter and builder with a home in La Conchita and a generous heart, by all accounts. Mr. Womack died in the landslide. His body was one of the first found, an ominous piece of news for anyone harboring hopes that his houseguests might have survived. As the search for survivors and victims continued on Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger flew over the scene in a military helicopter and then landed for closer inspection. The governor, accompanied by a large entourage, walked to the edge of the landslide and declared Ventura County a disaster area. Under an unusually clear and blue sky, Mr. Schwarzenegger, wearing a leather jacket, khakis and alligator boots embossed with his official seal, peered into a hole and spoke a few words of encouragement to rescue workers whose hands were chapped and bloody from digging through the hardening clay. "The key thing is that we clean up this mess here as quickly as possible and we find the people who are still missing," Mr. Schwarzenegger said. "Hopefully some of them we still find alive."He also said that people who elect to live in places that are prone to plunging hillsides and other disasters - a slide here in 1995 engulfed several houses, although no one was killed - had every right to do so, regardless of the danger.During a meeting of La Conchita residents on Wednesday morning at a Red Cross evacuation center in Ventura, south of here, some people wept as the names of the 10 confirmed dead were read aloud. But then, when the names of the presumed missing were mentioned, four people on the list stood to say they were present and fine, said Janelle Beck, 47, a resident who attended. She called it "the best news so far." Asked whether she intended to move away from La Conchita now that its status as a danger zone had been firmly established, Ms. Beck said, "Move? How could I move? The house ain't worth anything anymore."The scene on Wednesday in La Conchita, known for its free spirits and great surfing, was Dadaesque. There were almost as many members of the press as rescue workers, who included orange-clad prison inmates, male and female."Jimmie's family is dead, Charly is dead - it's so, so sad," said Maya Jamal, 26, a close friend of the Wallets' who made music and cooked dinners and watched the sunsets with them. "The children are the hardest thing."Funds for the Wallet and Womack families have been set up at the Santa Barbara Bank & Trust branch in Santa Barbara, a few miles north of here.When the hill fell on Monday, Mr. Wallet avoided the fate of his wife and children only because he had gone to a local store to get them ice cream. On his way back, the bluff cracked, and his family was gone.He seemed to bury his shock in a driven search for his wife and daughters. So distraught was Mr. Wallet that the police put him in handcuffs on Tuesday and led him from the rubble, before letting him return later to the rescue effort. On Tuesday night, he and several friends, including Mr. Womack's sons Orion and Isaiah, scrabbled through the crushed remains of the house whenever the firefighters in charge gave them an opportunity, occasionally picking up a sweatshirt or a comforter that they recognized.At one point, rescue workers found the corpse of a man at what had been the entrance to a garage, placed it carefully into a white body bag, and slowly picked it up, passing it over the hood of a battered red sports car.The search for the little Wallet girls continued. Isaiah Womack and another man, Gary Gallardo, called out to them. "Raven!" Mr. Gallardo yelled. "If you guys can hear us, hang on! If you're under this car, hang in there! We'll get you!"A few hours later, Mr. Wallet was there when his family was recovered."It's hard to believe in God when a baby gets buried," said Laura Ramirez, Mr. Wallet's sister-in-law, who noted that the family's spiritual roots were Roman Catholic. After Mr. Wallet's wife and daughters had been placed in a liquor store that was being used as a temporary morgue, Mr. Wallet left La Conchita for a while. When he returned, he insisted on rejoining the search for other victims, but a sheriff's deputy stopped him at a barricade."I just want to carry buckets," Mr. Wallet said."No," the deputy responded. "O.K. Let me go get my kids' clothes."The deputy looked into the man's tortured eyes. "You could get hurt, Jimmie," he said. Mr. Wallet's reply was swift: "I don't care if I die."
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January 13, 2005Father's Grim Search Ends as 4 Bodies Are FoundBy CHARLIE LeDUFF and NICK MADIGAN LA CONCHITA, Calif., Jan. 12 - Jimmie Wallet's worst fears were confirmed in the darkness of early morning.Frantic and exhausted after more than 36 hours of searching for his wife and three of his daughters in the rubble of La Conchita's fallen mountain, a stricken Mr. Wallet absorbed the full weight of the calamity before dawn on Wednesday, when searchers discovered the lifeless body of his wife, Michelle. An hour later, the corpse of one of the girls was found nearby. Next, the body of a second daughter. Then a third.The authorities believe that there are at least three more people buried in the wreckage."The kids," muttered Capt. Drue Holthe of the Montecito Fire Department, who has been working on the pile of mud, wrecked homes and crushed automobiles since the palisade succumbed on Monday afternoon to the rain that had swallowed Southern California for nearly a week. "It's really hard," the captain said. "We're all family men. Your children are the dearest things in your life."The unearthing of Michelle Wallet, 36, and the three girls, Hannah, 10; Raven, 6; and Paloma, 2, brought to 10 the number of confirmed dead since the hill collapsed, burying about 15 houses and damaging an additional 16. A fourth daughter, Jasmine, 16, lives in Ventura. For Mr. Wallet, 38, a lean, itinerant carpenter who wears dreadlocks, it was the worst kind of disaster after a string of misfortunes. Four months ago, he was on the drift, with no home or solid employment prospects, when he and his family were taken in by Charly Womack, a fellow carpenter and builder with a home in La Conchita and a generous heart, by all accounts. Mr. Womack died in the landslide. His body was one of the first found, an ominous piece of news for anyone harboring hopes that his houseguests might have survived. As the search for survivors and victims continued on Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger flew over the scene in a military helicopter and then landed for closer inspection. The governor, accompanied by a large entourage, walked to the edge of the landslide and declared Ventura County a disaster area. Under an unusually clear and blue sky, Mr. Schwarzenegger, wearing a leather jacket, khakis and alligator boots embossed with his official seal, peered into a hole and spoke a few words of encouragement to rescue workers whose hands were chapped and bloody from digging through the hardening clay. "The key thing is that we clean up this mess here as quickly as possible and we find the people who are still missing," Mr. Schwarzenegger said. "Hopefully some of them we still find alive."He also said that people who elect to live in places that are prone to plunging hillsides and other disasters - a slide here in 1995 engulfed several houses, although no one was killed - had every right to do so, regardless of the danger.During a meeting of La Conchita residents on Wednesday morning at a Red Cross evacuation center in Ventura, south of here, some people wept as the names of the 10 confirmed dead were read aloud. But then, when the names of the presumed missing were mentioned, four people on the list stood to say they were present and fine, said Janelle Beck, 47, a resident who attended. She called it "the best news so far." Asked whether she intended to move away from La Conchita now that its status as a danger zone had been firmly established, Ms. Beck said, "Move? How could I move? The house ain't worth anything anymore."The scene on Wednesday in La Conchita, known for its free spirits and great surfing, was Dadaesque. There were almost as many members of the press as rescue workers, who included orange-clad prison inmates, male and female."Jimmie's family is dead, Charly is dead - it's so, so sad," said Maya Jamal, 26, a close friend of the Wallets' who made music and cooked dinners and watched the sunsets with them. "The children are the hardest thing."Funds for the Wallet and Womack families have been set up at the Santa Barbara Bank & Trust branch in Santa Barbara, a few miles north of here.When the hill fell on Monday, Mr. Wallet avoided the fate of his wife and children only because he had gone to a local store to get them ice cream. On his way back, the bluff cracked, and his family was gone.He seemed to bury his shock in a driven search for his wife and daughters. So distraught was Mr. Wallet that the police put him in handcuffs on Tuesday and led him from the rubble, before letting him return later to the rescue effort. On Tuesday night, he and several friends, including Mr. Womack's sons Orion and Isaiah, scrabbled through the crushed remains of the house whenever the firefighters in charge gave them an opportunity, occasionally picking up a sweatshirt or a comforter that they recognized.At one point, rescue workers found the corpse of a man at what had been the entrance to a garage, placed it carefully into a white body bag, and slowly picked it up, passing it over the hood of a battered red sports car.The search for the little Wallet girls continued. Isaiah Womack and another man, Gary Gallardo, called out to them. "Raven!" Mr. Gallardo yelled. "If you guys can hear us, hang on! If you're under this car, hang in there! We'll get you!"A few hours later, Mr. Wallet was there when his family was recovered."It's hard to believe in God when a baby gets buried," said Laura Ramirez, Mr. Wallet's sister-in-law, who noted that the family's spiritual roots were Roman Catholic. After Mr. Wallet's wife and daughters had been placed in a liquor store that was being used as a temporary morgue, Mr. Wallet left La Conchita for a while. When he returned, he insisted on rejoining the search for other victims, but a sheriff's deputy stopped him at a barricade."I just want to carry buckets," Mr. Wallet said."No," the deputy responded. "O.K. Let me go get my kids' clothes."The deputy looked into the man's tortured eyes. "You could get hurt, Jimmie," he said. Mr. Wallet's reply was swift: "I don't care if I die."
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