Yeah, sometimes I do think they are reading me.
"Companion of student missing in Haiti found dead" by Travis Andersen, Globe Staff | February 12, 2010
A second traveling companion of a student from Massachusetts missing in Haiti since a massive earthquake rocked the island country last month has been confirmed dead, her school announced yesterday.
The US State Department has informed the family of Christine Gianacaci, a 22-year-old sophomore at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., that she was found in the rubble of the Jan. 12 earthquake, the school said in a statement. The statement did not specify when or where on the site the Hopewell, N.J., resident was found.
Britney Gengel of Rutland, a Lynn sophomore who turned 20 after disappearing in the rubble of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, is missing, with another student and two faculty members. On Wednesday, the school announced that junior Courtney Hayes, 23, of Boca Raton, Fla., had been found dead.
Two days after the quake, Lynn officials announced that Gengel had been found alive. The school later retracted the report, citing bad intelligence from a private rescue contractor.
Related: Code Red24 For Haiti
Why the vagueness on who it was, Glob?
Her parents made an emotional appeal three weeks ago to the federal government to ensure that she would be returned to the United States when found, regardless of her condition.
“We are asking our government to guarantee that every American dead or alive [in the hotel rubble] be accounted for and brought home in a dignified way,’’ Britney’s father, Leonard, told reporters at a Jan. 22 press conference at Logan International Airport after returning from a nine-day vigil at the Lynn campus with the families of the other missing students.
Gengel’s parents said yesterday in a statement that they continue to pray for Gianacaci’s family, writing, “We do hope this helps them with closure and the start of their grieving process to begin.’’ The Gengels also thanked the search and rescue teams in Haiti, especially the teams working at the Hotel Montana.
State Senator Stephen M. Brewer of Barre, who has acted as the Gengel family’s spokesman, said Britney’s parents believe Gianacaci and Hayes were staying one floor below Britney in the hotel when the quake hit. “I think [the search team is] getting close to the location where Britney might be,’’ Brewer said, adding that waiting for word on her status has been agonizing.
Britney Gengel traveled to Haiti with 11 other Lynn students to feed the poor with the program Journey of Hope-Haiti.
A Lynn spokeswoman, Laura Vann, said the school has not received any word on when the students and faculty might be found. The remains of Hayes and Gianacaci would be returned to their families, she said. A Lynn spokesman, Jason Hughes, said in an e-mail that US government personnel are assisting the recovery effort at the hotel.
Lynn president Kevin M. Ross offered condolences to the families of Gianacaci and Hayes in statements released by the school. Ross said that Hayes was “an inspiration in life’’ with a “giving spirit.’’ He remembered Gianacaci as “a young woman who was a bright light.’’--more--"
Also see: Whose That Girl in Haiti?
