WASHINGTON COUNTY, TN — The remains of Nancy Tucker, the last missing Tennessee victim from Hurricane Helene, were found Saturday in Washington County, according to local officials. Tucker was 76 when she disappeared in the flooding that destroyed her home nearly two years ago.
She vanished with her husband, Jimmy Tucker, when the Nolichucky River overflowed and swept away their rural home on Sept. 27, 2024. His body was recovered within days, but hers had not been found until the recent search effort reached a breakthrough.
Family members said the discovery finally brings a long wait to an end. The recovery now allows Tucker to be laid to rest beside her husband after years of uncertainty and repeated searches in difficult terrain.
Flooding from the Nolichucky River erased homes in rural Washington County
The Tuckers lived in rural Washington County in the northeastern corner of Tennessee, where Helene’s floods tore through Appalachian communities. Their son also lived in the home but was at work when the flood hit, according to Washington County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Susan Saylor.
The storm was part of a disaster that killed more than 250 people and caused nearly $80 billion in damage across several states. In the mountains along the North Carolina-Tennessee border, rainfall measured as much as 30 inches, turning ordinary streams into torrents that carried away trees, rocks, vehicles and houses.
Those conditions shattered century-old flood records and left many victims missing after being swept downstream. Tucker’s case became one of the most closely followed searches in Tennessee because her husband had already been found and officials kept returning to the same stretch of storm debris.
Crews focused on Jackson Island inside Cherokee National Forest
Search teams narrowed their focus to a section of the Cherokee National Forest known as Jackson Island. But reaching the likely recovery area took time, and crews still had to work around enormous piles of storm debris.
Since February, searchers had walked more than 400 miles through the area, James Matthews of the Washington County-Johnson City Emergency Medical Service said. They could not simply dig through the heaviest debris, some of which rose 40 feet high and contained trees, boulders, cars and even large propane tanks.
Those conditions made the search exhausting and slow. The terrain kept shifting, and the damage from the flood had buried key areas beneath layers of wreckage that first responders could only inspect by foot.
Federal restrictions slowed heavy equipment work on the recovery site
Local responders also ran into a separate problem: the recovery area was federal land. Officials said the site was believed to contain Native American burial grounds, which meant heavy equipment could not be brought in right away.
Saylor said crews had to wait for federal approval before debris removal could begin. That approval did not come until this summer, when the federal government awarded a contract for the work.
Matthews said the delay was frustrating, but search teams stayed committed. Once the operation finally began, the breakthrough came quickly, with the call confirming the discovery arriving just four days later.
Officials say the family waited years for a promised recovery
Tucker’s remains were found Saturday, and the removal process continued into Sunday evening. Matthews was among the responders at the site when the recovery effort moved forward.
He said the moment the team knew they had found a clear indication that the remains were Tucker’s, the entire scene stopped. The group prayed, and several responders cried after the identification became likely.
A medical examiner made the final positive identification on Monday afternoon. Family spokesperson Risa Buck said in a statement that the promise to bring Nancy Tucker home had finally become reality, and that the family could now focus on healing and burial.
Washington County officials said they never planned to stop searching
Officials said the search never truly ended because Sheriff Keith Sexton had promised to recover every missing person after the storm. Saylor said that commitment shaped the entire effort and left no real question about whether crews would keep going.
The recovery also closed the final missing-person chapter in Tennessee tied to Helene. In North Carolina, another victim, Alena Ayers, has never been recovered, and her disappearance helped lead to Alena’s Law, a measure that made it easier to declare someone dead after a natural disaster.
For the Tuckers’ family, the recovery carries a more personal meaning. An obituary for Jimmy Tucker said he and Nancy met while serving in the U.S. Army and had been married for 44 years.
Helene’s long shadow still reaches families across the mountain South
Helene remains one of the deadliest and costliest storms in recent memory, especially in mountain communities that were overwhelmed by flash flooding. The disaster destroyed homes, displaced families and left some loved ones waiting years for answers.
Tucker’s recovery shows how long those consequences can last. Even after the storm passed, search teams were still navigating collapsed terrain, federal restrictions and massive debris fields to bring closure to one family in Washington County.
For responders, the work was about persistence as much as geography. For the family, it was about finally getting Nancy Tucker home after two years of uncertainty, so she could be laid to rest beside her husband.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
