State officials release names of 104 NC Helene victims

This story was updated to reflect additional information from DHHS.

North Carolina state officials have released a list of the 104 people who were killed by Hurricane Helene, the worst storm in the state’s history.

Since the disaster, news outlets and the public have relied largely on individual reports from loved ones to identify the victims by name. On Monday, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services responded to a weeks-old records request from BPR News and provided the identities of those who lost their lives. It appears to be the first time authorities have made public the names of those who died.

While the list is a full accounting of victims the Medical Examiner’s Office officially determined to be Helene-related fatalities, there are likely people who died or are presumed dead whose names are not on the list.

By year’s end, state leaders said the list of missing persons – once in the hundreds in Western North Carolina – had successfully been reduced and that local authorities would take over such investigations. It is unknown exactly how many people remain unaccounted for or missing but the number is thought to be less than 20, based on reporting by The Assembly and WFMY News.

In addition, there are victims not included in the state’s official count if they lived in North Carolina but their body was recovered in another state. This appears to be the case for some Western North Carolina residents who were killed in a landslide or flooding but were found in Tennessee during search and rescue efforts.

North Carolina’s Official List of Hurricane Helene Victims

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, the Department of Health and Human Services released an updated list that includes county and date of death: