Hundreds mourn families killed in Utah flash flood

HILDALE, Utah — Turn off of State Road 59, follow Utah Avenue east to Canyon Street and you can see where the Sept. 14 flash flood ripped through this town, piling debris and sediment on the street and surrounding wash banks.

Drive north on Canyon Street and you quickly pass the spot where the flood washed away two vehicles carrying three mothers and their 13 children.

Three children escaped the torrent, but the rest perished. The bodies of the three women and nine of the children have been recovered. Searchers continue to search for the body of a 6-year-old boy.

Drive a little farther and you reach Maxwell Park. That was the site, about 160 miles northeast of Las Vegas, where hundreds gathered Saturday to remember those who died.

"Anyone who's helped, I love you," Sheldon Black Jr. told the crowd. His wife Della Black died in the flood. So did his daughters Melanie and LaRue Black. His son Tyson Lucas Black is the one still missing.

Many of the people who have searched for his son were there Saturday.

There were people there from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — dressed in the sect's traditional attire of prairie dresses for the women, jeans and mono-colored, long sleeve button-down shirts for the men. There were probably just as many former followers of the sect, too.

Traffic control and music were provided by the Davis County Cooperative, also known as the Kingstons. It's a sect that, like the FLDS, believes in polygamy as a tenet.

Polygamist Tom Green, who was convicted of bigamy, also attended with some of his family, though a belief in polygamy appears to be his only connection to the Hildale residents killed.

The Utah National Guard's 2-222 Field Artillery provided a color guard. Some 2-222 soldiers earlier participated in the search for Tyson.

The crowd probably could have filled the 800-plus folding chairs lined up on the park's huge lawn, though about half the attendees stood on the perimeter. They faced risers where town officials, dignitaries and the fathers and husbands of the dead offered condolences and expressed sorrow.

Sheldon Black Jr. sat on the riser with his two sons who survived the flood — Seth and Shem. He recalled each of the three children he lost, and he recalled his wife.

"I know she wanted to be with the children," Sheldon Black Jr. said. "I know she is now."

Joseph N. Jessop lost two wives in the flood — biological sisters Josephine and Naomi Jessop, who were also Della Black's biological sisters. Josephine was Joseph Jessop's legal wife. He also lost seven children: Rebekah, Melissa, Naomi, Ruth, Valiant, Velvet and Caress.

"I wouldn't want to complain against God and his purposes," Joseph Jessop told the crowd. "I know he has all things in his hands, and he always does right."

His lone surviving child, Joseph Jessop Jr., about age 10, followed his father to the microphone. He recalled seeing the flood as it overtook the family vehicle.

"My heart was pounding a thousand beats per minute — just whacking like a sledgehammer," the boy said. "But I know that Heavenly Father wanted this to happen and I'm grateful for this experience."

After a pause, Joseph finished with: "It's good to see you all. Amen."

Of the children caught in the flood, authorities have released only the name and age of Tyson Black. But the names of the deceased children were printed on the program for the memorial service, and the Jessop family members were buried earlier in the week with grave placards listing their years of birth. The people killed in the Hildale flood were members of the FLDS, and the sect has a history of being protective of information about their children.

The sect, which also has members in nearby Colorado City, Ariz., is not recognized by the Mormon church. It was led by Warren Jeffs, who was sentenced in 2011 to life in prison for sexually assaulting one of his child brides.

Another seven people were killed in flooding from the same storm system. The group of hikers were in a narrow canyon in Zion National Park, about 20 miles north of Hildale, when it filled with water. Among the dead was Don Teichner, 55, of Mesquite. The other six were from California.