Mother Who Disappeared In Hurricane Katrina Identified 19 Years Later

For those who witnessed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from a distance, the extensive devastation could be encapsulated by a poignant news interview. A reporter from Gulf Coast TV station WKRG encountered Hardy Jackson wandering the streets of Biloxi, Mississippi after the colossal floodwaters had receded. Jackson was searching for his 46-year-old wife, Tonette, whose body he could not find.

A Tale of Loss: What Really Happened?

Hardy and Tonette Jackson had been at home when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. They did not anticipate the rapid rise of floodwaters. As the waters surged, they sought refuge in their attic, but their house collapsed. Clinging to a tree and holding Tonette's hand, Hardy struggled to maintain his grip. Realising he could not hold on much longer, Tonette urged Hardy to care for their children and grandchildren before they were forced to let go.

Soon after, Hardy stood amidst the devastation in Biloxi, accompanied by two boys, surveying the ruins left by the flood. “We ain’t got nowhere to go, nowhere to go. I’m, I’m lost. That’s all I had. That’s all I had,” he lamented, his grief palpable.

The Search for Tonette

A week later, search teams discovered a body inland of Biloxi, in St. Martin, among the remnants of two homes. However, the remains could not be identified and were buried at Machpelah Cemetery in Pascagoula under the name Jane (Love), based on information from Mississippi officials.

Meanwhile, the Jackson family continued their desperate search for Tonette, one of the 12,000 people reported missing in Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina, which caused 1,392 fatalities and $125 billion in damages. Hardy Jackson, honouring his promise to care for their children and grandchildren, could not lay Tonette to rest properly. In 2010, he expressed his despair to CNN, “They say my wife’s body gone to the bay. There’s nothing I can do. Many times I woke up, I’ve been wishing it was a dream.”

In 2013, Hardy passed away without having found Tonette, leaving the family no closer to closure.

Advances in DNA Technology: A Ray of Hope

The following decade brought significant advancements in DNA technology, providing new opportunities to solve long-standing unsolved crimes and missing persons cases. In Mississippi, the Bureau of Investigations and the State Medical Examiner’s Office took notice. In 2023, these agencies formed a task force to re-examine the unidentified Katrina victim found near Biloxi.

Experts exhumed the remains of Jane (Love) and sent them to Othram, a Texas-based company specializing in forensic genetic genealogy, which combines DNA analysis and traditional genealogical research. According to a company news release, Othram generated leads for the State Investigations Bureau.

Othram had previously assisted Mississippi officials with other cases. Funding for this effort came from Carla Davis, a philanthropist and genealogist dedicated to resolving the backlog of cold cases in the state. Utilizing Othram’s leads and additional DNA testing from a close family member of Tonette Jackson, the remains were identified: nearly 19 years after Katrina, science confirmed that the remains found in St. Martin belonged to Tonette.

Closure at Last

Tonette’s family could finally reclaim her remains, and the case of another victim of Katrina etched into Mississippi’s granite memorial could be closed. Special Agent Christa Groom of the Investigations Bureau reflected on the lengthy process, saying, “It shouldn’t have taken this long, yet here we are. I’m just glad to get them some closure.”

The successful identification provided a measure of peace to Tonette's family, who had waited so long for answers. As Davis noted, “It’s a good feeling to know that you’ve helped them kind of be at peace because they waited a long time for this.”