Search for Hurricane Helene victims ends in North Carolinas hard-hit Buncombe County with 10 still missing: Some we will never find

ASHEVILLE, NC — The search for missing Hurricane Helene victims has come to an end in one of the hardest hit areas in North Carolina as new leads have all but dried up a month after the ferocious storm swept through.Helene left 42 people dead in Buncombe County — which encompasses Asheville and Swannanoa, some of the most devastated areas — and 10 are still considered missing, officials told The Post.“There are going to be some people that we have lost in this storm that we will never find,” former fire chief-turned-county Emergency Services Assistant Director Ryan Cole told The Post Wednesday.“And that’s a very hard thing to come to grips with, not only for the families but also for the responders who are dedicated to bringing those families closure.”Since Helene struck North Carolina exactly one month ago Sunday, Cole’s department has been joined by hundreds of state and federal search and rescue personnel responding to about 600 missing persons cases.That number has now been reduced to fewer than 10 active cases, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, while the state and federal staff have left the area as leads have stopped coming in.“We have conducted all the targeted searches we can based off the information we have,” Cole said.

“If we get additional information, we’ll go back to work.”Among the missing is Matt Darrohn, 40, a homeless man was last seen on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville.“As the days go on it gets a little harder,” his sister-in-law, 39-year-old Amanda Darrohn, told The Post. “Every day that goes on that no one’s seen him, it makes it less likely someone is going to find him,” she added, describing Matt as “good guy” who had fallen on hard times.“He was never really good at keeping in touch anyway before the storm, so we’re hoping he’s found a place to stay and just hasn’t reached out to anyone yet.”At least 232 people were killed across six states after the storm made landfall i...