Friday, November 13, 2009

Victims going home for burial

Nearly enough money raised to send bodies back to Peru

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By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Collections buckets such as this can be found throughout the Wood River Valley, as the area’s Peruvian community collects donations to send the bodies of three of its members recently killed in an automobile accident back to their homeland for burial.

Thanks to the generosity of people in the Wood River Valley, nearly enough money has been raised to send three Peruvians killed last month in an automobile accident back to their homeland for burial.

Fundraisers paid $9,000, half the amount needed, to Wood River Chapel in Hailey on Wednesday. Mortuary Director Russell Mikel, who is handling arrangements for sending the bodies to Peru, said he expects the balance to be paid within the next few days.

"They're quite confident, and it looks good to me," said Mikel, who is also Blaine County's coroner. "They've done a great job of it, and the community has supported it, and they're very appreciative of it."

Contributions are being gathered mainly by other Peruvians living in the valley, some of them related to 38-year-old Dionicio Crispin Yauri, 37-year-old Eliana Maribel Bodadilla Moya and 21-year-old Mariela Bernadino Melchor. The three of them were killed in a near head-on collision Oct. 30 on state Highway 75 about four miles south of Timmerman Hill in southern Blaine County.

Yauri, Moya and Melchor were close friends who lived at the Blue Haven residential area south of Ketchum. All three were employed as restaurant workers in the Ketchum area.

Donations have poured in through individual and business contributions to an account at Wells Fargo Bank in Ketchum, dollar by dollar to collection buckets at coffee shops and retail stores throughout the valley, and through funds raised on Saturday, Nov. 7, at an all-day chicken banquet at Blue Haven.

The Rev. Martha Hernandez, of Lion of Judah Ministries in Ketchum, helped organize and publicize the event. She said it was heartwarming that so many people attended, contributing $10 each to the fundraising effort.

"It was beautiful to see everyone there, and not just Peruvians but people from everywhere," Hernandez said. "We were together like a community."

Hernandez said more than 100 people attended a memorial service for Yauri, Moya and Melchor on Nov. 5 at Wood River Chapel.

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"The message was to reflect about their lives," she said. "At the beginning, everyone was quiet, but by the end people were more peaceful."

Hernandez said the Peruvian community is appreciative of the contributions for the three accident victims.

"We want to say thanks to everyone," she said. "We live in a great place, and people are great and they want to help. We are happy to live in this place."

Hernandez said if money is raised beyond the $18,000 needed, it will be given to the families in Peru to help pay for funeral expenses there.

Mikel is currently working with the Peruvian Consulate in Denver to secure permits for transportation of the bodies. He expects that arrangements will be complete by early next week, when the bodies will be taken to Boise for air transport to Peru.

The cost of transportation to Peru is about $2,000 per casket, he said. About $12,000 in mortuary expenses have accrued for services, caskets, preparation and transport to Boise.

Mikel said it's not uncommon for the community, particularly the valley's Hispanic community, to raise funds to send the bodies of deceased people back to their homelands for burial.

"It's pretty common for people to step up for what's needed, but it's pretty rare to do it for three people—that's what's unusual this time," Mikel said. "It's much more difficult to raise the money.

"I'm really pleased that the community has stepped up to help them. The community has given a great response."

Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com