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.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
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.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Newnan teen emerges from woods, attacks high school runner during cross-country meet: Police
- Police: Young mother was shot in head, killed inside apartment before body was dismembered
- Georgia mother, son found dead after collapsing in yard
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.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group




