Body Of Missing 62-Year-Old IE Woman Found Buried In Mudslide Debris

FOREST FALLS, CA — Buried under several feet of mud, rocks and debris, the body of missing Forest Falls resident Doris Jagiello was found Thursday. It was not the desired outcome.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department announced the grim discovery on Friday. Jagiello, 62, went missing Monday from her mountain home amid a torrential rainstorm that brought catastrophic damage to her community.

"As a large debris flow consisting of mud and extremely large boulders raced downhill, it overran Jagiello’s property and impacted her home causing significant structural damage and carrying away everything in its path," the sheriff's department reported.

The sheriff's department said it hoped the discovery of Jagiello would bring some measure of closure to her family. She lived in the Forest Falls home with her son, his wife, their two children and a family dog.

For days the Forest Falls community and search crews combed the area looking for Jagiello and the dog. The unincorporated mountain town is home to a little over 1,000 residents.

The little black pup was found safe and reunited with the family, but it took three days to find Jagiello's body.

Joie Rush is a photographer and Forest Falls resident who was documenting the search efforts with her camera. She was on hand when Jagiello's remains were discovered buried amid the rubble of the family home.

It was "a very sad moment for the community," she said.

Rush was not familiar with Jagiello on a personal level but instead knew her as a local artist who was educated in Mexico.

According to Jagiello's biography, she hailed from Washington state but was born in Mexico City and spent her childhood in Tlalnepantla. She attended art school and in 2019 published a book of poetry, "El Ultimo Adios."

Two GoFundMe pages have been established to help the Jagiello family. "The Jagiello Family" page had raised nearly $2,000 as of Friday afternoon, and another similar page had brought in just under $1,800.

"We're still in shock," Rush said of the community's loss, but added, "we'll pull together."

Monday's mudslides and flash flooding brought on by Tropical Storm Kay occurred in parts of the San Bernardino Mountains where there are burn scars from the 2020 wildfires, including the massive El Dorado blaze that forced evacuations in Oak Glen, North Yucaipa, Mountain Home Village, Forest Falls and Angelus Oaks.

The force of Monday's mudflows brought devastation to Forest Falls, Oak Glen and Yucaipa. Dozens of homes were destroyed. Read more and see photos: Massive Mudslide Devastates Oak Glen Steakhouse

In Forest Falls, a public safety exclusion area remains in place for Prospect and Canyon drives to allow work crews to safely remove the remaining debris and large boulders blocking the roads.

To help Crestline, Forest Falls and Oak Glen residents impacted by the destruction, San Bernardino County officials will host a "Local Assistance Center" from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Yucaipa Community Center, 34900 Oak Glen Road.