Woman’s body found buried under debris days after California mudslides

FOREST FALLS, Calif. (KCAL) - The body of a woman who was unaccounted for after a series of mudslides in California has been found.

Search and rescue teams sifted through several feet of mud and debris inside a home in Forest Falls, California, for several days until they found the body of Doris Jagiello, 62, underneath.

“We were waiting for it and we didn’t want it to happen. But we knew it was going to,” her neighbor, Olin Richey, said. “When you have boulders the size of cars being moved, there’s not much hope with that.

Jagiello is remembered as an accomplished artist, published poet, and beloved grandmother.

Richey said she was a kind-hearted woman and he feels for her family who she lived with.

“Thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family,” Richey said.

Jagiello’s son hugged search teams Wednesday, thanking them for looking for his mom.

The same mudslide that killed Jagiello swept a Jeep away and ripped a wall off the house of Richey’s family.

“That’s the worst of it. It took out the entire wall right there,” Richey said, gesturing to a collapsed part of the house.

On the other side of the wall is Richey’s room, where a wall caved in.

“If I would have been home at the time it would have seriously injured, if not killed me,” Richey said. “So, I’m counting my blessings.

Jagiello’s friends said they feel blessed to have known her. They described her to be sensitive and happy living in Forest Falls with her family.

Search teams were able to salvage a few of her things for them, including several of her paintings and one of her dogs, who was found alive two days after the flash flood.

Jagiello first went missing on Monday during the rainstorm that led to several mudslides and flooding throughout southern California.

Officials said they hope finding her will bring her family some closure.

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