Remains of woman, 76, last Hurricane Helene victim in Tennessee, found TWO YEARS after floods swept her home away

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Nancy Tucker's body was discovered on Saturday in the Cherokee National Forest, nearly two years after floodwaters from the Nolichucky River destroyed her rural Washington County home on 27 September 2024, making her the final missing Tennessee victim of Hurricane Helene. Her husband Jimmy Tucker vanished alongside her but his body was recovered within days. Their son survived only because he was at work when the flood struck.

Search crews had logged over 400 miles on foot through the Cherokee National Forest since February, battling debris piles reaching 40 feet high.

Helene killed more than 250 people and caused nearly $80 billion in damage from Florida to the Carolinas.

In North Carolina, Alena Ayers' body remains unrecovered; her case prompted 'Alena's Law', making it easier to declare disaster victims legally dead.