Update

They've found Jennifer. She had a severe head injury, and the coroner said she would have died quickly, maybe instantly.  Her brother identified the body.

Garrett has been in surgery most of the day, with repairs to his arm.  They found a place under his arm where he had been impaled , and were pulling out pieces of wood 2-3 inches long.  They took the time to clean out that wound and several others.  Tomorrow he'll go back to surgery to repair his broken jaws, right and left, and to clean out a head wound. He's being kept on the ventilator for now, until the major surgeries are completed, so he won't be told about her for a while.

The family is going to proceed with Jennifer's funeral, since they can't be expected to postpone it for 2-3 weeks. We don't know any details yet. Everyone is devastated. Jennifer and Garrett adored each other, and her family told my brother they'd never seen her happier in her life than she's been since they met. My brother and sister-in-love feel they've lost a daughter, not an inlaw.

Please continue to keep them all in your prayers, particularly my sister-in-love.  She's a rock, but is taking this really hard.

Frank says it looks as if 2/3 of Alabama has been wiped off the map.  My nephew says there is nothing above ground level left standing in their neighborhood: not a tree, not a bush--just foundations for homes that are no longer there. It's amazing that either one of them made it out of there at all. 

Thanks again for all your support, and please remember all the victims and families of this catastrophic event.

Please....

Blogging friends, I'm going to ask a huge favor.  If you're a praying person, please send prayers. If you believe in good thoughts, positive energy, whatever, please send them our way.

Some of you may know I come from Alabama originally.  I have family in Birmingham, Cullman, Blountsville and Tuscaloosa.  Most of them are okay after yesterday's tornados. Two are not.

This is my nephew Garrett, and his bride of 8 months, Jennifer, taken on their honeymoon last August.  Their house was leveled yesterday in the horrible tornado that ravaged Alabama. Garrett was found under a 5-foot pile of rubble approximately 100 yards from where his house used to be.  He is alive, with a broken jaw, broken left wrist, broken left arm, slightly damaged spleen, bleeding around the kidneys, and a large gash in his right side. Right now he's on a ventilator at the University Hospital in Birmingham.

We don't know where Jennifer is.

When Kevin, Garrett's older brother, couldn't reach them by cell phone, he jumped in his car and went looking for them.  He got there just as the first responders found Garrett, and helped them dig him out.  They told Kevin there had been a female body nearby, no ID, and the body of a white bulldog in a cage, but they had already taken them to a staging area. 

Garrett and Jennifer have a white English bulldog.

I've spoken with my brother, Garrett's dad, and Garrett will probably be all right, though he's not out of the woods yet.  He doesn't know Jennifer's missing, and Frank doesn't know how to tell him. This is the same brother and sister-in-love who lost their oldest son to bone cancer at the age of 19--ten years ago this June.  Janell also lost her mother 2 months ago.

Jennifer's dad has said if they call, he doesn't think he'll be able to go identify his little girl, so Frank will do it for him.

Frank and Janell have been through so much, and they loved Jennifer as a daughter. I can't believe they must go through this too.

So please, pray that Jennifer is found alive and well, and that Garrett heals completely. Miracles still happen everyday, and this family could use one. Please pray for strength for my brother and sister-in-love as they trudge through yet more tests of their faith.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks, all.

Stephanie