A couple in Springfield, Mo., found two photographs while doing yard work: photos that belong to Jack and Rayma Redden, who live in Picher, Okla. — 93 miles away.
The Reddens’ home was destroyed when a large tornado shredded a 20-block section of Picher Saturday evening. The Reddens and five relatives huddled in closets and escaped with a few scratches.
Robyn and Alan Bates of Springfield found the photos stuck together back-to-back, wrapped in shredded photo-album plastic and spattered with bits of mud and leaves. One shows the Reddens wearing matching sweaters on Christmas Day 1971, and a young girl holding a doll on Easter 1972.
Other residents in southwest Missouri reported finding canceled checks, photos and other storm-related items from Picher.
This reminds me of ranchers in the Flint Hills of Kansas, who told me they were finding items from Andover in their pastures years after the deadly tornado of April 26, 1991.