Ike remains are from Crystal Beach man

CRYSTAL BEACH — Skeletal remains recovered from a Hurricane Ike debris field in Chambers County were identified as a Galveston County resident, an official said Friday.

Laura Recovery Center officials believe DNA confirmed the identity of the remains as Harry Bingham, 61, who lived in Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula, spokeswoman Sandy Stafford said.

Bingham’s daughter, Kim Cennimo, who lives in New Jersey, called center director Bob Walcutt on Thursday, saying she was told Wednesday the remains were positively identified as her father, Stafford said.

Cennimo didn’t tell Walcutt how the remains were identified, Stafford said.

An attempt to confirm the identification with a message left for Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive wasn’t successful.

Workers clearing pastureland on the afternoon of Sept. 8 off FM 562 between Lone Oak Bayou and Smith Point found the remains, LaRive said in a statement released that day.

An identifying trait included bones that had been pieced back together with surgical wire, the statement said.

The center expected the remains to be Bingham’s, Stafford said.

“We were fairly certain it was Harry because of the plates in his face,” Stafford said.

“There was a metal plate, and Harry had been in a motorcycle accident years ago and had to have extensive reconstruction surgery.”

The center has been instrumental in helping relatives in the search for loved ones missing since Sept. 13, 2008, when Ike slammed ashore, causing widespread flooding and damaging much of the Upper Texas Coast.

That area of Chambers County was the same vicinity where two survivors of the storm and two other bodies were found after landfall, the sheriff’s statement said.

There are three others still listed as missing from Bolivar Peninsula since the storm: Susan Shealy, 52, of Crystal Beach; Sandy D. Walton, 54, of Gilchrist; and Glennis Dunn, 70, of Port Bolivar.

Shealy and Bingham lived together for five years, and they supposedly were going to evacuate together, Stafford said.

“There was talk about different scenarios, that he left to fill up with gas or went out by himself and couldn’t get back to her,” Stafford said.

A woman’s body found shortly after the storm on Pelican Island just north of Galveston has yet to be identified.

The body had webbed toes, just like Shealy, Stafford said.

“The only thing we’re not able to confirm is a 7-inch abdominal scar,” Stafford said. “But we do know that she had a baby, and it could have been a Caesarean scar.”

+++

Ike victims

Here is a list of Galveston County residents who died in the county from effects of the storm:

• Martha Ferguson, 69, of Galveston, died Sept. 13, 2008, no electricity for breathing machine

• George Helmond, 72, of Galveston, drowned Sept. 14, 2008, found in his submerged truck

• Yong Seng Teo, 49, of Galveston, died Sept. 14, 2008, of pre-existing health condition, couldn’t reach hospital in time

• Charles Lively, 79, of League City, died Sept. 15, 2008, of pre-existing health condition

• Carolyn Williams, 64, of League City, died Sept. 15, 2008, of pre-existing health condition, lack of dialysis

• John Manley, 66, of League City, died Sept. 15, 2008, pre-existing health condition lack of dialysis

• Jim Devine, 76, of San Leon, drowned, found Sept. 17, 2008, near his home

• Robert Dort, 76, of Galveston, died Sept. 20, 2008, of pre-existing health condition

• Eddie Bailey, 64, of League City, found dead Sept. 23, 2008, pre-existing health condition

• Ruben Ramos, 60, of Galveston, found dead Sept. 23, 2008, pre-existing health condition

• Gail Ettenger, 58, of Gilchrist, found Sept. 23, 2008, near Chambers County debris field

• Herman Moseley, 48, of Galveston, drowned, found Sept. 27, 2008, on Goat Island

• Unidentified woman, found on Pelican Island, Sept. 29, 2008, believed to have drowned

• Shane Williams, 33, of Port Bolivar, found drowned Oct. 6, 2008, on Goat Island

• Rose Brookshire, 70, of Port Bolivar, found Oct. 6, 2008, on Goat Island north of Port Bolivar, believed to have drowned

• Charles Garrett, 42, of Port Bolivar, found Oct. 6, 2008, on Goat Island north of Port Bolivar, believed to have drowned

• Walter Fisher, 70, of Port Bolivar, drowned, found Oct. 25, 2008, on Bolivar Peninsula’s North Jetty

• Jennifer McLemore, 50, of Gilchrist, found Nov. 2, 2008, in Chambers County debris field, believed to have drowned

• Magdalena Strickland, 49, of Port Bolivar, found Nov. 20, 2008, on Goat Island north of Gilchrist, believed to have drowned

• Marion Violet Arrambide, 78, of Port Bolivar, found Dec. 22, 2008, on Goat Island north of Crystal Beach, believed to have drowned

• Harry Bingham, 61, of Crystal Beach, found Sept. 8, 2009, in Chambers County debris field.

SOURCES: Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office, Chambers County Judge Jim Sylvia, Chambers County Sheriff Joe LaRive and Laura Recovery Center