ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Nearly two years after Tropical Storm Helene swept through Western North Carolina, five people who disappeared in the flooding still have not been found.

They are Kimberly “Kim” Ashby in Avery County, Alena Ayers in Mitchell County, and Leonard “Lenny” Widsawski, Yevhenii Segen and Tetyana Novitnia in Yancey County.

All five disappeared Sept. 27, 2024, as Helene sent rivers and streams surging through mountain communities. Their remains have never been recovered.

In the chaotic days after the storm, the number of people described as missing or unaccounted for was far higher. Communications were down, roads were impassable and families sometimes went days without hearing from loved ones.

Those numbers eventually fell as communications returned, people were located and authorities worked through missing-person reports.

By April 2025, five people were still missing in North Carolina.

Two years later, five remain missing.

The lingering uncertainty came into sharper focus this month when searchers in East Tennessee recovered the remains of Nancy Tucker, 76, the last person still missing from Helene in Tennessee. Tucker disappeared when the Nolichucky River swept away the Washington County home where she and her husband were staying.

Her remains were found Sept. 12 in the Cherokee National Forest, almost two years after the storm.

Across the state line, five Western North Carolina families are still waiting for that kind of answer.

One still missing in Avery County

Avery County initially had seven people missing after Helene, according to information provided to 828newsNOW.

Six were eventually recovered and identified.

Ashby is the only one who has not been found. She is presumed dead, but her remains have never been recovered.

Ashby disappeared when floodwaters swept away the home where she and her husband, Rod Ashby, were staying along the Elk River near Elk Park. Her husband survived.

Her disappearance led to a search involving local, state and federal agencies and hundreds of volunteers.

Two years later, the search has not brought her home.

Alena Ayers’ disappearance changed state law

In Mitchell County, Alena Ayers and her husband, Stephen, were swept away by the North Toe River in the Relief community.

Stephen Ayers was later recovered downstream in Tennessee. Alena was not.

Mitchell County reported six direct deaths from Helene. Five of those victims were recovered, while Ayers remains unaccounted for. The county also reported two post-storm deaths, one involving a motor vehicle and another involving a fall.

Ayers’ disappearance eventually prompted a change in North Carolina law.

Her cousin, Kelly White, pushed for legislation after the family encountered legal hurdles trying to have Ayers declared dead even though the circumstances left little doubt about what had happened.

The measure, known as Alena’s Law, became law in 2025. It allows a rebuttable presumption of death when someone disappears in connection with a state- or federally declared disaster and remains missing for at least 90 days.

The change gives families a way to move forward with matters such as estates and insurance even when a loved one’s remains have not been recovered.

Three still missing in Yancey County

Three people remain missing from Helene in Yancey County, according to the Yancey County Sheriff’s Office.

Leonard “Lenny” Widsawski was last known to be at his home in the Green Mountain community.

Yevhenii Segen and his grandmother, Tetyana Novitnia, were last known to be at their home near Patience Park in the South Toe/Blue Rock community.

Segen’s parents were in the same home when the storm struck. Both died, and their bodies were recovered in the period after Helene, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Segen and Novitnia have never been found.

From hundreds of reports to a handful of cases

Immediately after Helene, it was difficult to know how many people were actually missing.

Cellphone and internet service failed across large parts of Western North Carolina. Roads and bridges were gone. Some communities were cut off entirely. Families outside the mountains could not reach relatives and reported them missing or turned to social media for help.

As communications returned and search crews reached isolated areas, the lists grew shorter.

Buncombe County, which suffered the highest Helene death toll in North Carolina, now has no storm-related missing-person cases, according to the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

That does not necessarily mean every person who may have been in the storm’s path was formally reported missing. But the Sheriff’s Office said it has no active missing-person cases tied to Helene.

In Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties, the answer is different.

Ashby, Ayers, Widsawski, Segen and Novitnia remain missing.

For their families, the second anniversary of Helene marks not only two years since the storm, but two years without knowing where their loved ones are.