Last body in Oso mudslide found 4 months after disaster

ARLINGTON, Wash. -- The last body from the devastating Oso mudslide was found Tuesday, exactly four months after the disaster that killed 43 people, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said.

The body of 44-year-old  Molly Kristine "Kris" Regelbrugge was found by crews working in the slide area Tuesday. Officials said nearly two weeks ago they found debris from what appeared to be her house. They followed the trail of debris until she was located in what recovery crews believe to be the garage area of her home.

She was 100 yards away from where the body of her husband, Navy Cmdr. John Regelbrugge, was earlier recovered.

"Candidly, we got lucky," Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said. "We started finding remnants of the house. As we dug deeper, we found more and that allowed us to keep searching."

Trenary said it's been a long, emotional road.

"It's absolutely what we wanted. I don't know if it brings closure; it brings an end to a chapter," he said.

Her body was the last left in the slide on March 22 that killed 43 people and decimated dozens of homes.  More than 90,000 cubic yards of dirt moved in the slide that was caused by three weeks of heavy rainfall.

State Route 530, the highway blocked by the mile-long mudslide, reopened May 30 after weeks of closures.

Kris Regelbrugge's body has not been officially identified, but work crews said they confident it is her. The county Medical Examiner's Office will make the official identification.