Caring, compassionate, and selfless — that’s how Jessica Meidinger described her mother, 58-year-old Kim Ashby, who’s been missing now for nearly four weeks.
Meidinger, who lives in Pittsboro, said her mom, stepfather Rod Ashby, and their three dogs had headed to their vacation home in Elk Park. Meidinger said the couple planned to lift the garage doors of the home to help water flow in case of possible flooding ahead of Hurricane Helene.
“That’s primarily why they went up there, thinking they’d get flooding, but nothing like what it turned into … no one was prepared for this,” explained Meidinger.
After arriving on a Thursday night, the family informed others they made it safely. It wasn’t until Friday morning that floodwaters started to rise quickly.
Referencing a home in a photo, Meidinger said, “The picture that you see was not long after it slid into the river and started to float down river.”
Meidinger said they later learned that a nearby bridge had become blocked by a trailer and debris. When it broke, she said it created a force of water that sent another bridge colliding into a pole of the home.
Meidinger said the couple put their three dogs on a mattress and clung on to what they could when the home started to fill with water and collapsed on top of them shortly after.
The family said neighbors witnessed the couple become separated after hitting a large tree.
“They saw him get flung one way and her another way and that was the last she was seen,” said Meidinger.
Ashby’s daughter explained that her stepfather managed to survive. Searching and shoeless, Meidinger said Rod Ashby hiked several miles in hopes of also finding help.
“It was very slow moving because there’s just no communication, and that was the hardest part in the beginning because we weren’t able to talk to anyone, we weren’t able to get access to anything,” said Meidinger.
She said it’s now been 13 days of crews searching and still no sign of her mom.
Meidinger said her mother’s disappearance hasn’t just been heartbreaking for the family, but also difficult for so many others. She said Ashby, a seventh-grade math teacher at SanLee Middle School in Sanford, had dedicated more than 20 years to teaching — just two years away from retirement.
Meidinger said an uncle helping with the search and recovery efforts has helped them stay updated through the process, but she said it’s been difficult to not feel powerless.
“To not be on the scene searching, to just wait day in and day out for information … at the end of the day, Mom is still missing.”
Meidinger, also pregnant, can’t help but feel like she’s lost part of her world.
“A lot of my family has come to the conclusion that she’s probably no longer with us … I think at this point, we want to find her and bring her home to be able to start that part of our grieving process.”
Meidinger said she continues to share her mother’s story in hopes of helping others who are still searching for someone. She believes it’s helped bring support and awareness to smaller communities in western North Carolina hit hardest by the storm.
“Even if we don’t have Mom, we’re doing what she would want … is just to help as many people as we can,” added Meidinger.
The family continues to share updates on social media and said search crews are now searching near the border in Tennessee. A GoFundMe has also been created to support the family’s losses and ongoing efforts in Elk Park.
