Tornado Carries Yearbook Cover For Miles

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Tornado Carries Yearbook Cover For Miles

The quiet community of Flag, Arkansas was untouched by last week's tornadoes, but last Wednesday, the sun revealed a strange pile of debris in the middle of one field.

Jamie Harness and her children found bits and pieces of tin, paneling, foam insulation, and one other strange object.

"Right in there I saw this and I picked it up," said Harness, "It's a 1979 yearbook cover."

Curious to find out where it came from, Harness only had the title of "Red Devil" to work with.

"I went out on the internet," she said, "And found out that red devils are from Atkins."

Atkins did sustain terrible damage from Tuesday's tornado.

Atkins is about 75 to 80 miles away from the community of Flag, meaning the storm likely carried the yearbook cover for that entire distance.

"When I realized it came from Atkins I was amazed. That's the only word I can use," she said.

Harness decided to try and track down the owner whose name is printed on the yearbook, Jimmy Cherry, so she could return it to him.

In a tragic twist, her sister contacted her Wednesday night after watching the news.

"She told me that a family named Cherry died in the storm. We were blown away by that," she said.

Jimmie Cherry died along with his wife and child after taking a direct hit from the tornado.

"I was just in shock and it just made me sick."

As if that wasn't enough, the storm also dropped all kinds of other personal documents on Harness's land, all belonging to people in Atkins.

"There are social security numbers, people's maiden names, lots of personal stuff that if in the wrong hands could cause someone lots of trouble," she said.

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