Missouri Accounts for All of Joplin's Missing Persons

Julie Denesha/Getty Images(JOPLIN, Mo.) -- Ten days after a monstrous tornado tore through the city of Joplin, Missouri, state officials now say that their grim task of trying to find unaccounted-for residents is over.

According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, all those reported as missing have either been found or confirmed as dead.

Initially, there were reports of as many as 1,300 missing persons after the twister that struck Joplin on May 22, prompting Gov. Jay Nixon to order both the Department of Public Safety and Missouri State Highway Patrol Troopers to conduct a search for unaccounted-for individuals.

Eventually, that figure was reduced to 268 missing persons, with 144 people found alive and 128 confirmed as deceased, and their next of kin notified of their passing.

Gov. Nixon praised the state agencies involved in the search for their "outstanding professionalism and dedication in carrying out the vital mission of locating every individual who was unaccounted for after the storm."

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