Body of nurse swept off road is found buried in 15 feet of mud, Oregon cops say

Evacuating their Oregon home in separate vehicles during a fierce storm, Charles Moore kept in contact with his wife, Jennifer, by phone.

A 50-year-old oncology charge nurse, Jennifer Moore brought up the rear in her SUV in a caravan of evacuees in the Columbia River Gorge at 1:15 p.m. Jan. 13, The Oregonian reported.

Then Charles, driving one vehicle ahead, heard panicked screams and crashing sounds over the phone, KGW reported. A mudslide that blocked 20 miles of roadway had swept Jennifer’s SUV away.

After 10 days of searching with drones, thermal imagers, metal detectors and other equipment, authorities found Jennifer Moore’s body Saturday inside her SUV, which was buried in 15 feet of mud, logs and rocks, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.

“It’s not the outcome everyone would have hoped for, but at least at this point it brings closure to the family and allows them to begin that grieving process,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Dangler in a video posted to Twitter.

Jennifer Moore, of Warrendale, was about to celebrate her 18th wedding anniversary, The Catholic Sentinel reported. The couple have two children.

She had worked at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland for 17 years, KGW reported.

“All of her friends that I’ve ever met, all of her patients, they all say the same thing: She’s a really hard-working nurse,” Charles Moore said, KOIN reported. “She’s a hard-working person and a good person.”

“She was so sweet, smart, helpful and fun,” former co-worker Peggy Haskins told The Catholic Sentinel. “She loved her children passionately. It’s no wonder she is loved and respected.”

Searchers used heavy construction equipment to clear debris from the edges of the area where they suspected Jennifer Moore’s SUV had been buried, sheriff’s officials wrote on Facebook.

A private company, Concrete GPR, helped verify the SUV’s location using high-powered metal detectors, and front-loaders dug a path to the vehicle, the Facebook post says.

Firefighters and deputies retrieved Jennifer Moore’s body, sheriff’s officials wrote.

“It was a really tough day,” Dangler said, KATU reported.