Man apparently drowned in Katrina floods; body under furniture(#1588)

[uppityperson]

RIP. Relatives have been to the house several times, body just found when workers mucking out house.

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1150657457206520.xml&storylist=louisiana

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The body of a man who apparently drowned in the floods that followed Hurricane Katrina was found under furniture in his once flooded house, the coroner's chief investigator says.

The New Orleans Forensic Center will test DNA to see whether the body is that of a 59-year-old man who lived there and had been missing since September, John Gagliano said. He said relatives had made several trips to the house since Katrina, but the body was found only Wednesday, by workers cleaning the house in eastern New Orleans. An autopsy found that the man had drowned.

He was the 23rd apparent storm victim found in New Orleans since the forensic center took over body recovery from federal search teams in March, Gagliano said. As of May 18, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals had counted 1,588 Louisiana deaths from Katrina, including 281 who died in other states after the storm.