Logan residents start returning

LOGAN — The backhoes and street cleaners are gone. All that remains of a once-feverish search and recovery effort are two signs that say "Danger. No Trespassing," yellow police tape and two orange mesh fences.

At 5:12 p.m. Wednesday, the portion of Logan's Canyon Road that had been closed since Saturday when a massive mudslide collapsed off the hillside above residents and slammed into a rental house at 915 East, burying and killing a mother and her two children, was reopened.

As the tractors and workers drove off and took down the "Road Closed" signs, residents started driving back to survey the damage.

"It feels good," said Chris Thomas shortly after getting back into his house. "It's not fun being homeless, or kind of homeless."

When the mud hit the homes on Canyon Road, the house in which the family was killed was moved 20 feet off its foundation and buried under 15 to 25 feet of mud and debris.

After four days of searching, emergency crews Tuesday evening finished recovering the bodies of Jacqueline Leavey, her 12-year-old daughter, Abbey Alanis, and her 14-year-old son, Victor Alanis.

""We want to express our relief and gratitude now that the search effort has come to a conclusion. Police and fire departments and rescue teams have all done a wonderful job. We must praise their excellence and expediency. We grieve for our beloved ones, but our faith in God is helping us cope," relatives of the victims said in a written statement.

The family also was receiving help from the Bear River Association of Governments. A Red Cross employee, who speaks Spanish, "stayed up all night long talking with the father who lost his family," according to the American Red Cross.

As of Wednesday, no funeral arrangements had been made for the victims, according to Logan City spokeswoman Teresa Harris.

On Wednesday, work crews removed the remaining debris and mud from the affected homes. All residents, except those who live in the two homes on each side of the one that was demolished, were allowed to return.

"Finally get to sleep on something comfortable," said evacuated resident Scott Flinn, who along with his roommates had been sleeping in a camper for the past four days.