Off The Record

Mom Of 4 Is In Our Thoughts And Prayers After Being Carried Away By Hurricane In Front Of Her Family

Published on October 17, 2024

More than ever, a family in Minneapolis, North Carolina, is in need of our prayers and thoughts as they deal with an unfathomable tragedy.

The raging waters of Hurricane Helene brutally carried away Melissa Guinn, a loving mother of four, in front of her husband Jamie and their 8-year-old son River.

It is incredibly tragic to see how many people the most recent hurricanes in the US have impacted. The confluence of two devastating hurricanes, Helene and Milton, has resulted in the loss of many lives and the destruction of innumerable homes.

The Guinns took refuge in their Minneapolis, North Carolina, home on September 27, but Hurricane Helene would quickly destroy their life.

Posted by Melissa Hensley Guinn on Monday, August 11, 2014

When the storm caused destructive mudslides, the family’s home, which overlooked a river, would prove to be a disastrous position. According to Fox News, the house started to fall as the storm grew stronger and tumbled down the mountain.

Melissa Guinn, a mother of four, was tragically carried away in front of her husband and their eight-year-old son, River.

“It sounded like a cannon going off. I just remember being crushed by the house falling all around me,” Jamie told WRAL. “And I can remember screaming for my little boy, and I could hear him screaming. Somehow, we dug through the house where it collapsed almost down into the river, and I found him.”

However, Melissa was nowhere to be found. Her last words echoed in the chaos: “Babe, watch out!” she screamed.

‘Dad, I think Mommy’s gone’

Jamie bravely and desperately threw River away from the crumbling house and onto a riverbed. By the time they turned around, Melissa had left.

“I rushed right behind my little boy, calling out for my wife because I couldn’t hear her anymore,” Jamie recounted.

“He looked at me and said, ‘Dad, I think Mommy’s gone.’”

Jamie claims that he heard his wife yelling from the location of their former house, but she then disappeared. The spouse is concerned that another mudslide may have dragged her into the river.

Regretfully, the experience was far from finished.

For several hours, Jamie and River had to make their way through mud, rushing water, and debris in order to obtain assistance. Jamie sustained injuries, including a laceration to his skull and a damaged spine.

But the physical agony was nothing compared to the devastating revelation upon learning the unthinkable: his wife, his children’s mother, had been discovered dead. On October 7, 10 days after the terrible event, authorities retrieved her body.

The couple’s tenth wedding anniversary was only a few weeks away.

A devoted wife and a loving mother

“I don’t think I still even comprehend,” he said. “Part of me feels like I’m still in a state of shock and understanding everything that happened. I think I’m just making myself realize everything that did happen.”

Brandon, Sebastian, Ethan, and River are the four sons Melissa leaves behind; she was a wonderful mother and a loyal wife.

“She was my absolute best friend. I really don’t know how I’m going to make it without her. We spent every day together. Everything I’ve done, she was involved in the same way as every other,” Guinn told Fox News.

Melissa was an excellent mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend to everyone in her life, according to a GoFundMe page set up by one of Jamie’s coworkers. She embodied the traits of a genuinely sweet spirit and was characterized as attractive, strong, passionate, and giving.