The Virginian-Pilot
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Fear has replaced relief for a Virginia family. The daughter they thought had been found remains missing in Japan.
Andy and Jean Anderson live in Midlothian, near Richmond. One daughter, Julia, works in Norfolk. The other, Taylor, teaches English in Ishinomaki, a town cut off from the outside world by Friday's disaster.
On Tuesday, after suffering through "the four longest days of our lives," said Julia Anderson, the family got good news:
"The embassy called and told us they'd sent a team into the area and that they'd found her at an evacuation site."
The joyous family was featured Tuesday on "The Early Show" on CBS.
But that night, word came that the State Department had been mistaken.
The error became clear when someone from the program Taylor works for - the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program - went to the evacuation site but couldn't find Taylor and was told that she'd never been there.
"Apparently, the State Department people never actually saw her," Julia said. "They took someone else's word for it that she was there."
The Andersons have since confirmed that Taylor was seen after the earthquake at the school where she taught, but she left before the tsunami struck.
"It's mind-boggling," Julia said. "We don't know where to go from here."
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How many bodies will never be identified
This is just a small issue to us, but there are thousands of people over there who are lost, or unidentified. I guess there will come a time soon when they are buried in mass graves for health reasons, and many have gone out to sea never to be seen again. We have to remember this is a double natural disaster and no one could have foreseen or prepared for it. There is a limit to what man can do.
Best wishes for the family
I can't imagine what the families affected by this trajedy must be suffering. I hope they find her, alive and well.