Body of Katrina victim found in attic

Monday, March 06, 2006

Just 3 days after inspection crews painted a "0" on the storm damaged home, indicating there are no bodies inside, cadaver dogs led searchers to the body of a Hurricane Katrina victim in the home's attic.

Louisiana Medical Examiner Louis Cataldie estimates the hunt for victims could take another two months, and could turn up another 400 bodies. Cataldie said cadaver search dogs are critical to the recovery of bodies. "The recovery of even one more victim is significant."

Sunday, cadaver dogs helped discover the body of a man in a rental home in the Lakeview area of New Orleans, near the 17th Street Canal levee -- which was severely damaged the day that Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi.

Flooding left more than three-quarters of the city underwater after the breach of protective levees in the August 29 storm.

The home's owner told police he had not seen his tenant since the storm. Firefighters said search dogs indicated the presence of a body almost immediately. Before he died, it seemed the man was trying to crawl out of an air-conditioning vent to escape rising floodwaters.

Since December, bureaucratic red tape has blocked funding to find more Hurricane Katrina victims hidden in the storm wreckage. Money was made available last week, prompting renewed search and recovery efforts.