Families, friends seek those missing after Las Vegas shooting
The Las Vegas crisis response Facebook page is a litany of desperation clinging to hope: more than 30 posts with nearly identical subject headings that read “requesting information.”
The social media posts are from family, friends and even strangers, hoping that the person they are seeking will be found safe — or at least alive — in the wake of Sunday’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
But with authorities nearing the end of the long process of identifying the dead, the odds are growing longer that the chaotic aftermath of the shooting or a lost cellphone is to blame for the lengthening silence.
Richard Berger, who lives outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday got the worst news a father can get when a friend identified the body of his son, Steve, at the Clark County coroner’s office.
Berger had endured an agonizing wait of more than a day since he turned on his television at 3 a.m. Monday and heard the news about the shooting in Las Vegas, where Steve was celebrating his 44th birthday.
An hour later, Steve’s friend called.
‘It was the waiting that killed us’
“He says, ‘We were with Steve, and he was shot,’” Berger recalled. “But everybody had to evacuate, and he couldn’t help Steve, and that was it.”
It would take about 33 hours of unanswered calls to local and federal government entities before Berger finally learned his son’s body had been identified.
“It was the waiting that killed us,” Berger said. “But at least it’s over and we know he’s in a better place now.”
Among those still listed as missing Tuesday morning was Carly Kreibaum, a wife and mother from Iowa, who last posted a picture to Facebook at 2:08 p.m. Sunday, almost eight hours to the minute before gunfire erupted at the concert. By evening, social media posts said Kreibaum was among the dead, though family members could not be reached to confirm that.
Her husband, Chris, was trying to reach Las Vegas on Tuesday to search for his wife but was hampered by rough weather in the upper Midwest.
“We are currently on a plane waiting for takeoff but it has been delayed a couple times due to heavy rains in Sioux Falls,” he wrote in a 5:30 a.m. post. “Just thought I should give everyone an update but we still don’t know anything at this time.”
A few searchers have been able to report news that is far from the worst.
Crystal Smith posted to the Facebook crisis response page Monday evening, searching for her friend’s son, Chris Pullen.
“He works on the Strip and drives for Uber in his spare time,” Smith wrote. On Tuesday afternoon, she updated the post to say he was alive.
“Still in the hospital but he is safe,” Smith wrote.
Assistance center for families
The Clark County coroner’s office opened a 24-hour assistance center Monday at the Las Vegas Convention Center to help family members locate or identify shooting victims. Coroner John Fudenberg said late Tuesday that more than 1,000 people had been assisted at the center.
Professionals and volunteers are offering mental health and legal guidance for relatives, offering advice on everything from grieving to more mundane matters like planning death notifications and memorial services. Child care and interfaith support also are available at the center.
Airline and hotel representatives are offering flight and accommodations to victims’ families.
Relatives looking for loved ones should bring dental records, DNA samples or photographs to help staffers identify victims, according to a Monday press release from the coroner’s office.
Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.
Free counseling availableMental health professionals are offering free counseling to Las Vegans in need of support after Sunday’s shooting.
The Las Vegas Counseling Center is taking calls this week for free counseling at 702-466-3750, while MGM has set up a hotline for victims and family members at 702-692-2300, or toll-free at 888-634-7111.
