Searching for the missing in Missouri

>>> good evening. with so many americans already on the move for the holiday weekend and so many others with outdoor plans we have wild weather on the way tonight as we end the end of the week where tornadoes have killed over 120 and injured over 1,000. just today, we had a tornado in california, a warning in mobile, alabama, and now a risk covering the entire eastern third of the united states . from the deep south all the way into upstate new york , into new england. all of this setting up the weekend moe of us define as the summer weekend. tonight, if you live in joplin , missouri, you're focused on survival, focused on the list of missing people . that's where we want to begin with ron allen .

>> reporter: there's been so much confusion about the number of people missing here that the governor himself appointed someone to figure out, and today, there are families that still have hope of finding someone alive. in this massive tangle of wood and debris, cassie owens her friends look for a trace of her cousin, will norton.

>> i don't think he's really gone yet, so all i can do is hope and pray he's okay. want to find him but i don't want to find him.

>> she said the tornado ripped norton through the hood of his family's car. he was leaving high school graduation with his father, who is badly injured and still hospitalized.

>> you'll keep going?

>> wres, yes, until he is found.

>> since the tornado, as many as 1,500 reported missing. poor communication cutting them off. 232 are unaccounted for.

>> it's extremely important in this situation that we identify these individuals. that dropped by one when sally adams turned up safe at her home. neighbors had rescued her, but her relatives didn't know. mainly, the search for survivors has only found more victims. and joplin 's newspaper now has funerals and obituaries for people like m dean wells who saved many people in the home depot and lost his life in the process. today, a happy moment. betty, a golden retriever , reunited with her owners. she had been rescued from the crawl space beneath the family's house, covered in thirsy, but in good shape. a good moment for that family. resckcue workers are everywhere. but there's a focus among clearing the debris and trying to rebuild, and workers are trying to salvage anything they can.

>> in joplin , you take your victoriy ies where you can