The 76-year-old Washington County woman was Tennessee’s final missing victim from the storm. Search crews found her remains more than three miles downstream from where flooding took her home.
By Brandon Burley | The Redemption Project
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. — Nearly two years after Hurricane Helene carried Nancy Tucker away from her East Tennessee home, the search for her has ended.
Authorities have positively identified remains found Sept. 12 along the Nolichucky River as Tucker, 76, the last person in Washington County still missing from the catastrophic September 2024 flooding.
Tucker disappeared with her husband, Jimmy, when floodwaters destroyed their rural Washington County home on Sept. 27, 2024.
His body was recovered within days.
Nancy’s was not.
Searchers eventually narrowed their work to Jackson Island in Cherokee National Forest, more than three miles downstream from the area where she was last believed to have been seen.
They kept looking.
According to reporting by The Associated Press, search crews logged more than 400 miles on foot in the area beginning in February, navigating terrain filled with enormous piles of flood debris.
Some piles reached approximately 40 feet and contained trees, vehicles, propane tanks and other material carried downstream by Helene.
Heavy equipment could not simply be brought in.
Because Jackson Island is federal land and includes areas believed to contain Native American burial sites, local responders had to wait for federal authorization and a debris-removal contract before machinery could be used.
That work began this month.
Four days later, crews found Tucker.
The remains were taken to the William Jenkins Forensics Center at East Tennessee State University, where a medical examiner confirmed the identification Monday.
For the people who had searched for nearly two years, the discovery was not simply the end of an investigation.
It fulfilled a promise.
Washington County Sheriff Keith Sexton had vowed after the flood that searchers would bring every missing person home.
Family spokesperson Risa Buck said the Tucker family can now lay Nancy to rest beside Jim.
Nancy and Jimmy Tucker had been married for 44 years. They met while both were serving in the U.S. Army.
Their son also lived at the home but was working when the flood struck.
Helene devastated communities throughout the southern Appalachians after moving inland in September 2024, producing historic flooding in East Tennessee and western North Carolina.
Eighteen deaths were reported in Tennessee. Entire homes, roads and bridges were swept away.
For the Tucker family, one consequence lasted far beyond the flood itself.
There could be no funeral bringing both Nancy and Jim home.
There was still somewhere to search.
Now there isn’t.
For nearly two years, first responders, volunteers, family members and search crews kept returning to the Nolichucky watershed looking for one person.
This week, Washington County’s final missing resident from Hurricane Helene was found.
Nancy Tucker is coming home.
Behind the Reporting
This is a straight-news East Tennessee story rather than an investigative article.
TRP relied primarily on Washington County information reported through The Associated Press and regional outlets. Authorities have positively identified the remains; earlier reports published before identification should not be used to describe the finding as merely “believed” to be Tucker.
Reporting cutoff: Sept. 17, 2026.
Source Library
The Associated Press — Sept. 16–17, 2026. Reporting based on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, emergency responders and the Tucker family’s spokesperson concerning the recovery, identification and two-year search.
Regional reporting — Sept. 14–15, 2026. Confirmation that Tucker was Washington County’s final missing Helene victim and that her remains were taken to ETSU for identification.
I am a retired detective and criminal justice / government educator based in Tennessee. I founded The Redemption Project, as a place to focus on civics, rebuild non-partisan trust, and provide educational and emotional grace while learning about the news. I also have a column in Knox TN Today. My reporting and commentary have also appeared in other outlets including; Governing, The Arizona Capitol Times, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Police1, among other state and regional outlets.
