A community came together on Thursday to mourn the five people killed during severe flooding in Upper Makefield Township over the weekend. NBC10’s Leah Uko has the story.
Officials ended their active search for Conrad Sheils, the 9-mnth-old baby boy who went missing during Saturday's severe flooding in Bucks County.
“At this point, we have exhausted all means of attempting to locate Conrad. With broken hearts, we regretfully announce that the active search for Conrad has concluded,” Upper Makefield Township Police posted on their Facebook page on Wednesday, July 26. “The family has been made aware of this development and they would like to express their deepest gratitude for all those involved in the search efforts to bring Conrad home and to all of you for all your outpouring of love, support, and kind words during this extremely difficult time.”
Officials provided a more detailed timeline on the flooding that left six people dead, including Conrad Sheils' mother and 2-year-old sister.
The timeline
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On Saturday, July 15, at 5:26 p.m., Upper Makefield Township police and firefighters responded to the area of Route 532 and Aqueduct Road in Upper Makefield for a report of a transformer or utility pole that was struck by lightning during severe storms in the area. Police approached the area from the west while firefighters responded from the east.
While police and firefighters determined the report of the lightning strike was false, the responding officers soon encountered severe flooding in the area of Route 532 and Aqueduct Road. They went further east and discovered Route 532 was completely impassable in the area of the 900 block of Washington Crossing Road due to the extreme flooding.
At the same time, firefighters encountered even worse flooding along the 1000 block of Washington Crossing Road. Both firefighters and police also received numerous 911 calls and reports of vehicles and people swept away by the raging floodwaters. Volunteers with the Upper Makefield Fire Company braved through the water and tried to save the nine people who had been swept away by the flash flood.
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At 6:20 p.m., an incident command post was established at the Washington Crossing United Methodist Church. Between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., first responders discovered the bodies of three of the flood victims, Enzo De Piero, Susan Barnhart and Katie Seley.
Later Saturday night, officials learned that two other people who had been swept away managed to escape the flood waters and arrive at a home on Stonebridge Crossing Road. Officials said they immediately sent emergency personnel to the home and were able to take both people to the hospital for treatment.
On the morning of Sunday, July 16, the command post was established at Station #71 and search operations resumed.
Around 11 am. that morning, search teams found the body of Yuko Love. They later found the body of Linda De Piero at 12:15 p.m. that day.
On Monday Bucks County coroner Meredith Buck revealed all five victims died from drowning while Love also died from multiple injuries. The deaths of all five victims were ruled accidental.
On Friday, July 21, a body was recovered from the Delaware River that was "strongly believed" to be that of missing 2-year-old Matilda "Mattie" Sheils. Saturday morning, July 22, officials confirmed that it was Mattie.
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Katheryn Seley and Matilda "Mattie" Sheils
Katheryn “Katie” Seley, 32, her husband Jim Sheils, three children, and their grandmother Dahlia Galindez – all from Charleston, South Carolina – were visiting friends and family in Bucks County at the time of the severe flooding.
The family was traveling along Route 532 in Upper Makefield Township around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday to attend a barbecue when a torrential downpour caused flooding in the area and disabled their vehicle. Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said their vehicle was hit by "a wall of water" from the nearby Houghs Creek.
Seley’s husband, Jim Sheils, managed to get their 4-year-old son out of the vehicle and they escaped the floodwaters.
At the same time, Seley and Galindez tried to rescue Seley’s two other children, 9-month-old Conrad and 2-year-old Mattie.
"We got out of the car, the water was up to my chin," Galindez said during a memorial service for the victims on Sunday. "I took a few steps and I was under the guard rail. Along with my daughter Katie and our grandchildren."
The two women and two young children were all swept away by floodwaters.
"One minute it was inches deep, a minute later it was over our heads," Galindez said. "Our feet couldn't hit. It was all muddy. There was nothing we could do but go with it."
Seley's body was recovered on July 15 while Galindez was found alive and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Mattie's body was recovered from the Delaware River six days after the flooding early Friday evening on July 21 near a Philadelphia wastewater treatment plant about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from where she was carried away, authorities said. The Philadelphia medical examiner on Saturday, July 22, completed an investigation and “ruled that Matilda Sheils’ cause of death was drowning and the manner is accidental,” a spokesperson for the office said.
On Wednesday, July 26, officials announced they had ended their active search for Conrad.
“Like all of you, we are truly heartbroken and saddened,” Upper Makefield Police wrote. “Although, at this time, we were unable to reunite Conrad with his loving family, he will forever live in our hearts and he will never be forgotten. We thank all of you for your messages, for your offers to help, for all your encouragement, and for all your patience and understanding during this tragic event. We truly worked as one team and will forever be connected. We stood together and we stood strong. Thank you.”
Scott Ellis, the uncle of the missing children, spoke on behalf of the family during a press conference on Monday, July 17.
"First, our family would like to extend our deepest gratitude for the enormous efforts of so many emergency personnel who have been working tirelessly in dangerous and difficult conditions to rescue the victims of this horrific tragedy," he said. "Their compassion, kindness, and bravery have given us strength in this unspeakably difficult time. And their commitment to bringing Conrad and Mattie home is unwavering. We are thankful that they were able to save so many affected by these unprecedented floods."
Enzo De Piero and Linda De Piero
Enzo De Piero, 78, and Linda De Piero, 74, were a married couple from Newtown Township.
The couple's family members told NBC10 they had just finished dinner on Saturday, July 15, but never made it home as they traveled on Route 532 during the flood.
"We have a lot of pain right now. For sure. We were really, really close with them," the couple's son, Zack De Piero, told NBC10. "They were perfect parents. I was the only child. They were like my best buddies."
De Piero said his parents "cared about people."
"They tried to make people feel special," he said. "They tried to make people laugh. They had a lot of love in their hearts and they had a lot more love to give too."
Yuko Love
Yuko Love was a 64-year-old woman from Newtown Township.
Friends of Love described her as a person who loved people and she was a popular member of the Newtown Athletic Club since 2017.
“This is where Yuko came every day. Sometimes she came twice a day. And she loved the classes here,” Linda Mitchell, a Newtown Athletic Club member, told NBC10. “And she loved the people. More than anything. And we loved her. I mean, everybody knew her. There’s more than ten thousand people that come here. Everybody knew her.”
Other members of the athletic club paid tribute to Love by wearing “Hello Kitty” t-shirts and dancing in her honor.
“We wore ‘Hello Kitty’ because Yuko loves ‘Hello Kitty.’ A bunch of us are decked out in all of it. We loved her. She’s amazing,” Stephanie Rhodes, a member of the athletic club, told NBC10. “She just gave a great tribute to who she was. Who she was as a member and a friend. Yuko was really great. She was an icon.”
Love's husband, Dave Love, honored his wife during Sunday's memorial service.
"I love you," he said. "I am so sorry. Thank you for all that you did."
Susan Barnhart
The fifth victim of the flooding was Susan Barnhart, a 53-year-old woman from Titusville, New Jersey.
Barnhart worked at the Washington Crossing Post Office in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, according to her friend Sheila Adamczyk, who works at a salon at the same strip mall where the post office is located.
Barnhart was driving in Washington Crossing -- which is located just across the river from Titusville -- Saturday, July 15, when she was caught in the flood and was unable to escape. Barnhart's dog, who was with her at the time, managed to get out of the vehicle.
“I can’t imagine but her dog Coda made it," Adamczyk told NBC10 while fighting back tears. "She must have had enough to open the window and Coda got out.”
Adamczyk described Barnhart as a quiet woman with a sense of humor.
"That was what's so important about her," Adamczyk said. "She kind of touched everybody. Everybody loved her. Anybody that brought their things to her, they loved her."
Hope Gonzalez, a friend of Barnhart's, spoke with NBC10 during a vigil for the victims.
