IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

'A Sense of Relief': Body of Mudslide Victim Summer Raffo Found

Raffo, 36, had a large family who tried desperately to find her. She had been driving along a highway when the mudslide struck.
Get more newsLiveon

She was sitting in the driver's seat of a blue Subaru, the seat belt strapped across her body, "like she was still driving to go work."

That's how rescuers found the body of Summer Raffo, 36, when they finally dug her car out of the mud on Wednesday afternoon, ending a desperate search by her large family.

"It's bittersweet, but at least we got it done."

Brunner had been searching for his sister since Saturday afternoon, when he realized that she would have been in the mudslide's path while driving to pick up tools for a horse-shoeing job.

The crew that found her — they noticed a blue shard of metal sticking out of the mud — let him join the extrication effort.

Image:
Summer Raffo, 36, was killed in a mudslide in Oso, Wash., on March 22, 2014.Family photo via King TV