PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — More than 100 people attended an emotional memorial service Sunday evening in Bucks County to remember the six people confirmed dead in last weekend's flash flood and honor the youngest of the victims, whose body has not yet been recovered after a week of searching.
Family, friends and neighbors gathered for a "Night of Shared Community Service" at the 9/11 Memorial Garden of Reflection in Yardley. Meanwhile, the search continues for 9-month-old Conrad Sheils.
Upper Makefield Township police said teams, including the Philadelphia Police Marine Unit and the U.S. Coast Guard, are continuing to search the Delaware River in the hopes of bringing Conrad home.
In a Facebook post, police said there is one debris pile left to search. It is underwater near the site where Houghs Creek runs into the Delaware River. They say their search efforts are dependent on the conditions of the river.
The Sheils family has expressed gratitude for the discovery of a body believed to be that of Conrad's sister, 2-year-old Matilda Sheils. She was recovered from the Delaware River in Philadelphia early Friday evening after police received two 911 tips. The body was found near a Philadelphia wastewater treatment plant about 30 miles from where Matilda was carried away, authorities said Friday night.
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"We are grateful that our little Mattie has been brought home to us. We are still praying for the return of Conrad," the family said in a statement posted Saturday by Upper Makefield Township police.
Family members also expressed "continued gratitude for the overwhelming outpouring of love, support, and concern from the community and from people around the country as rescue workers have worked tirelessly to find Mattie and Conrad."
"Thank you all, again, for your compassion and your kindness. We are humbled," the statement said.
The family, from Charleston, South Carolina, was visiting relatives and friends in the area and were on their way to a barbecue on the evening of July 15 when their vehicle was hit by a "wall of water," according to Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer. Their mother, 32-year-old Katie Seley, was also killed in the flood, authorities said.
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The children's father, Jim Sheils, grabbed the couple's 4-year-old son, Jack, while Seley and her mother grabbed the other children, Brewer said. Sheils and the son made it to safety, but Seley and the grandmother were swept away.
The grandmother, Dahlia Galindez, survived. At the vigil, she shared her chilling account of the rapid floodwaters.
"We get out of the car. The water is up to my shin. I took a few steps and I was swept under the guardrail, along with my daughter Katie and our grandchildren," she said. "As I got into the water and [was] pulled under, I was eventually able to hold onto a tree, and I think that was my only injury, miraculously enough."
Four other people drowned in the area, according to the Bucks County Coroner's office: Enzo DePiero, 78, and Linda DePiero, 74, of Newtown; Yuko Love, 64, of Newtown; and Susan Barnhart, 53, of Titusville, New Jersey.
The deaths and the search for the children have led to an outpouring of support, particularly in social media, in the suburb about 35 miles north of Philadelphia.
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