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Last of Kansas flooding victims foundFather: Children screamed as waters swept away minivan
(CNN) -- Authorities said they found two more bodies Tuesday in the aftermath of floods that engulfed the Kansas Turnpike over the weekend, raising the death toll to six. Police identified the body of Melissa Rogers of Liberty, Missouri, whose four children also drowned in the torrent. The other body has been preliminarily identified as Albert Larsen of Fort Worth, Texas, police said. Melissa Rogers, her husband and their four children had been traveling in the family's minivan when it was overcome by raging waters. At a news conference Monday, Robert Rogers described how the vehicle became stuck on the crowded turnpike in Emporia, about 85 miles northeast of Wichita, on Saturday. "Our minivan became trapped on the freeway between semis and cars," he said. "The raging water was too strong to attempt to carry four children safely away. The water quickly rose up to the height of the steering wheel." Rogers said his children screamed as the vehicle was swept into a culvert. He kicked out the driver's-side window and was sucked out by the water. The bodies of three of his children, ages 1, 3 and 5, were later found in the minivan some distance from the highway, still strapped in their seats. The body of his oldest daughter, age 8, was found Sunday more than a mile from the vehicle. "Our families are shattered by the loss of our children," he said. Larsen called his wife back home to come and get him after his vehicle became stuck in the floodwaters. She drove all night to try to find him, officials said, arriving Sunday morning. Kansas Highway Patrol Capt. Mark Conboy said patrolmen on the scene Saturday described a "wall of water" at least seven feet high that came down from hillsides near the turnpike, after more than 20 inches of rain fell on the region in one day. Conboy said eight sections of the concrete barrier in the middle of the turnpike were washed away. Each section was nearly 20 feet long and weighed more than 1,000 pounds. Search crews focused their efforts on a nearby pond, which the flooding swelled from its normal 33 acres to more than 100.
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