‘Heartbroken:’ Family takes steps to declare missing Canton woman dead after Nepal flooding

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CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — A Cherokee County family has taken steps to have their wife and mother declared legally dead, a month after deadly flooding swept through China and Nepal.

Mary Sorensen is one of more than five thousand still missing, and the family says they’re heartbroken.

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The family of Mary Sorensen held on to hope in the days after flooding hit an immigration center at the Nepal/China border, as Sorensen was likely inside.

“There’s a God who will do a miracle that will bring her home,” said her son Riley Wildeman in the days after.

On Tuesday, Channel 2 Action News spoke to Mary’s husband Brian, who said he’s heartbroken. He said he still had hope, just not sure what he’s hoping for.

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He is sure that Mary, who was in the region on a yoga and meditation trip, will likely never be found.

Mary, a wife, mother, and proud grandmother, was on her way back to the US in September when video captured the catastrophic flooding, triggered by a landslide when a glacier broke off. The water hit the immigration center, likely as Mary was passing through.

Mary’s husband, Brian, now says he submitted for a Consular Report of Death Abroad that would serve as a death certificate.

Mary’s husband says she was a passionate environmental scientist. They hope to create a scholarship in her name to carry on her legacy.

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