Communities begin healing

HUNTINGTON — They're still down there, somewhere.

But news of six miners trapped and missing in the Crandall Canyon Mine since Aug. 6 has turned to mud, rubble and water, the only signs found this past week in the seventh and fourth holes drilled deep into a mountain and into the mine.

Day after day for over three weeks, the results were the same — no signs of Kerry Allred, Manuel Sanchez, Louis Hernandez, Carlos Payan, Don Erickson and Brandon Phillips.

For now, the search for the six miners has ended, forcing everyone to move on and, hopefully, begin to heal.

On Saturday, President Bush offered sympathy and praise to the families of the dead, the missing and the residents of Utah's coal country.

"The people of the central Utah mining community have inspired us all with their incredible strength and courage in the face of tremendous loss," he said in a statement. "Last night, a difficult decision was made to end the search. Laura and I are deeply saddened by the tragedy and continue to pray for the families of these men."

On Friday, the healing began with the release of a rehabilitated golden eagle back into the wild. The eagle was set free by Wendy Black, wife of Dale Black, one of three men killed Aug. 16 during rescue attempts. Wendy, however, has some closure: She was able to bury her husband. The same can't be said for the families of the six miners still inside the mine.

Without any physical sign of the six men, the emotions and spirits of their loved ones will continue to hang in a kind of purgatory. And now the mindset of those families, according to a lawyer representing them, is changing as their darkest fears gain more clarity:

They realize it may be a long, long time before the miners' bodies are found, if ever.

And while fund-raising efforts for those families continue — there is a softball tournament this weekend in Price — and those closest to the missing miners are learning to move on, many others who had roles to play on the periphery of recent rescue attempts have had to move on.

Families of the trapped miners received their first checks this past week from donated funds sent to accounts at Zions Bank.

Trucks can be seen driving in and out of Crandall Canyon, transporting already-mined coal from a huge pile near the mine to a nearby power plant.