Four months after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, state officials are still reportedly finding remains of victims.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office reported that it discovered the remains of an 82-year-old resident who attempted to ride out the storm in Fort Myers Beach.
The hurricane made landfall in southwestern Florida on 28 September, 2022, killing at least 148 people, according to NBC News.
That number is likely to increase as officials uncover more remains.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said during a news conference on Thursday that the area was still working to recover from the storm.
"Most of us have gotten back to a sense of the new normal," he said. "For some, still missing their loved ones, every day since the storm has been difficult."
In one tragic incident, Mr Marceno recounted how police discovered the remains of one man, Robert Knes, at his home after the hurricane. His wife was not found at the home, and remained unaccounted for until mid-January when her remains were found in a dense patch of mangroves. She had to be identified through dental records.
The county’s last remaining missing person, James "Denny" Hurst, was identified on Sunday, according to Mr Marceno.
Investigators searching a sunken sailboat named "Good Girl" found human remains on the vessel, which was docked near the Gulf of Mexico. Police later determined that the remains are those of Mr Hurst.
Mr Marceno said the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that more than half of the hurricane deaths were caused by drowning. Delayed medical services made up the next highest cause of death for victims of the storm.
Other victims are still missing; Coast Guard officials believe a boat carrying at least 27 migrants from Cuba capsized during the storm. Nine of those individuals were rescued, and the bodies of several others were found after the storm, though some are still missing.
Another couple, Omar Millet and Betsy Morales, are still missing, and are believed to have been on their 32-foot boat off the Keys when the storm hit.
The Coast Guard said it searched an area larger than the coastline of Maryland but could not locate the couple’s remains, according to The New York Post.
