Oklahoma tornadoes: A teenage girl and her boyfriend were among the deceased, along with a 3-year-old Piedmont boy whose body was found Thursday morning.


A teenager who loved the rodeo, two children ripped from their mother's arms and a woman intent on saving her dogs were among those killed in the deadliest Oklahoma tornado outbreak in more than a decade.

Two days after the tornadoes left a path of destruction from Chickasha to Stillwater, authorities on Thursday recovered the body of a 3-year-old boy lost in a twister and finished identifying all 10 known victims.

The tornadoes left at least 238 people injured. Typical sheltering places, bathrooms and closets, could not withstand some of these killing winds. Initial reports indicate more than 600 homes and businesses were damaged, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. The National Weather Service said that in terms of loss of life in Oklahoma, this was the worst tornado outbreak since May 3-4, 1999, when 44 people died in the state.

At least seven twisters struck Oklahoma on Tuesday. National Weather Service officials said they expect at least four, including the two that took lives, will be rated EF3 or higher, meaning winds were at least 136 to 165 miles per hour. The largest tornado tracked 75 miles and killed nine people, including two children who huddled under a mattress in a bathtub with their mother and sister.

The dead are:

- Miranda Nycole Bishard, 16, of Helena

- Austin Hall, 22, of Enid

- Terry Peoples, 50, of Woodward

- Don Wesley Krug, 71, of Hooker

- Joan Krug, 67, of Hooker

- Sharon Dodd, 58, of Cashion

- Billy Leeper, 64, of Cashion

- Ryan Hamil, 3, of Piedmont

- Cole Hamil, 15 months, of Piedmont

- Laron Short, 24, of Chickasha

All of the dead except Short were killed by one massive tornado that tracked 75 miles from near Binger to the Guthrie area.

Storm claims its first victims

The tornado took its first lives as it moved into Canadian County and crossed Interstate 40 near the Calumet exit.

Peoples and the Krugs were in separate full-size Dodge pickups on the highway when the tornado approached.

Trooper Calvin Symes said the circulation was so strong it tore off their clothing and flung their bodies 60 feet to 200 yards away.

Peoples was found in a tree in a densely wooded area about 60 feet from where his truck had landed.

Symes said a truck driver caught in the storm reported that minutes before the tornado hit, a storm chaser came by and advised everyone to back up because they were in its path.

It was too late. The tornado came through with such force it tossed around two tractor-trailer rigs like they were toys, he said.

Car parts littered the interstate, and vehicles were sucked off the road and thrown in a ravine.

"It was a twisted mess," Symes said. "We had to climb over so much debris that it was hard to find or distinguish anything."

The Krugs' daughter, Linda Ellsworth, said her father had been a longtime farmer and retired in April as a maintenance worker for the county. Ellsworth said their retirement plans included spending more time visiting their 12 grandchildren.

The couple were returning from a grandchild's graduation in Oklahoma City.

Couple killed on Route 66

The tornado continued moving northeast. A few miles away from the devastation along I-40, another pickup with people inside was caught in the storm's path, this time at Route 66 and Courtney Road.

Bishard and Hall, who were dating, were visiting Hall's parents in El Reno. The two and a friend, Stephanie Jones, also of Helena, were returning from checking on the family's horses when they drove headlong into the twister.

The pickup was thrown through the air and landed in a nearby pond, a family member said. Bishard and Hall were killed. Jones was injured but survived.

According to Hall's Facebook page, he and Bishard had been dating since October. Hall was a 2008 graduate of El Reno High School and recently moved to Enid. He listed his occupation as a roughneck for Cactus Drilling.

Bishard would have been a junior in the fall at Timberlake High School in Helena. Local churches are hosting a dinner and a candlelight vigil at the high school Saturday evening after her funeral.

Garrett Bowers, Bishard's cousin, said Bishard always had fun no matter what she was doing. She loved singing karaoke and listening to country music.

"She wore her pink cowboy boots everywhere she went," Bowers said. "I used to haul her around to the rodeos. We rode horses a lot. She ran for rodeo princess and queen."

Storm moves on

The storm moved through El Reno and into the Piedmont area, where Catherine Hamil, 36, huddled with her three children under a mattress in a bathtub in the family's home.

They followed storm safety precautions, but their safe place wasn't safe enough. The tornado ripped the house apart. Catherine Hamil was found by a neighbor nearby the overturned bathtub in the rubble of her home.

Her 5-year-old daughter, Cathleen, was nearby. Both survived and are recovering at a local hospital. Cole Hamil, 15 months, and Ryan Hamil, 3, were killed.

Cole Hamil was found immediately after the storm. A frantic search ensued for Ryan Hamil. That effort came to a sad end early Thursday when dogs led searchers to his body in the water near the shore of a small lake in the Piedmont-area housing addition about 60 yards from the Hamil home.

In brief, emotional comments at a news conference near the lake, the boys' father, Hank Hamil, who was at work when the tornado hit, thanked searchers and said he had hoped his son would be found alive.

Logan County hit

As the storm crossed into Logan County, it claimed its next victims near Cashion.

Rob Groseclose, spokesman for the Logan County Sheriff's Department, said Dodd was killed after she moved from a safe area to rescue her dogs.

Her husband, John Dodd, also was injured during the storm, said Rick Dodd, John's brother. He was released from the hospital Tuesday night and is staying with family. Sharon Dodd was a 1971 graduate of Edmond High School.

"Everybody that knew Sharon loved her," Rick Dodd said.

He said his sister-in-law rescued and cared for abandoned dogs. Sharon Dodd was an artist and helped her husband craft furniture.

John and Sharon Dodd lived in a mobile home near Council Road and Charter Oak in southwestern Logan County. Rick Dodd said the only thing left of his brother's home was the frame. John Dodd's company pickup was sucked up by the storm and flung into a nearby farm pond.

"It was unbelievable the devastation," Rick Dodd said. "It's hard to take."

Nearby, Billy Leeper, 64, whose mobile home also was outside of Cashion in southwestern Logan County, was trying to flee the storm with his wife and son, Groseclose said.

Leeper, a Vietnam War veteran, was swept up by the tornado. His wife was severely injured. The son was not seriously injured.

The other deadly twister

Another deadly tornado touched down near Chickasha and hit a mobile home park where Short was visiting her mother.

The recent graduate from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma returned home Monday night after a five-month trip to Australia and was staying with her mother when the storm hit.

Short's mother was not injured when the tornado destroyed the home, but Short was crushed by debris.

"Laron was either trying to help her mom or get to somewhere," said Heather Jay, Short's friend from college. "Her mom called me today, and she's completely heartbroken."

Contributing: Staff Writer Megan Rolland