Kimberly Joan Ashby, 58, a middle school teacher from Elk Park, North Carolina, was swept away during catastrophic flooding from Tropical Storm Helene on September 27, 2024. Kimberly and her husband Rod had gone to their recently completed riverside home to secure it, but rising waters undermined the foundation and the house was torn free and carried into the Elk River. The couple and their three dogs clung to a mattress as the house broke apart; after they struck a tree the currents separated them. Rod managed to grab a branch and pull himself from the water and was found the next day miles from the home site. Kimberly and the dogs were carried downstream and have not been found.

Search and rescue teams, emergency crews, law enforcement and volunteers conducted extensive searches in the days and weeks after the flood. Debris, altered terrain and storm damage hampered efforts. Some of Kimberly’s belongings, including her purse, were recovered, but there has been no sign of her.

If anyone was in the Elk River area around Elk Park on or after September 27, 2024, or has information about Kimberly’s whereabouts, please share what is known.