Mississippi Authorities Identify Hurricane Katrina Victim Who Was Buried Anonymously

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ A victim from Hurricane Katrina who was buried anonymously as ``Will'' to represent the will of the people to persevere has been identified through a DNA match with his son,

Friday, May 4th 2007, 5:41 pm

By: News On 6

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ A victim from Hurricane Katrina who was buried anonymously as ``Will'' to represent the will of the people to persevere has been identified through a DNA match with his son, a coroner said Friday.

The man, whose body had been found after the storm across the street from his home in Pass Christian, Miss., was 78-year-old James L. Blair, said Harrison County coroner Gary Hargrove.

Blair, dubbed ``Will,'' and another unidentified man were buried side by side on Katrina's anniversary last year in a city-owned cemetery in Gulfport, Miss. The other man was given the name ``Strength'' to symbolize the strength of people to recover from disaster.

Hargrove matched DNA samples from Blair's body to those given by one of his sons, who lives near Orlando, Fla., and had been searching for his father since Katrina.

Though his body was found near his home, about two miles north of the coastline, Blair's identity remained a mystery.

``Pass Christian was totally under water. That gentleman's body could have come from anywhere,'' Hargrove said.

Blair's name had been entered into a database of Katrina victims compiled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The coroner said a computer glitch may have prevented him from identifying the body sooner.

A DNA match was eventually made with Robert Wallace, who had searched for his father after the storm and then gave FEMA a DNA sample and a photo of his father.

Blair, who was born Raymond Wallace but later changed his name, was a retired construction worker, his son said.

``He was a good person,'' Wallace said. ``He had lots of friends there on the coast.''

Blair's body will remain where it is, but a headstone identifying him by name will be erected.

``It brings a lot of closure knowing he's had a proper burial,'' Wallace said.

More than 1,900 people were reported missing in Harrison County after Katrina, but only 15 of them are still listed as missing, according to Hargrove. The storm was blamed for 97 deaths in the county.