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Flint men feared dead in Haiti rubble
Merle West landed an hour before quake
Updated: Monday, 18 Jan 2010, 2:36 PM EST
Published : Friday, 15 Jan 2010, 4:54 PM EST
SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) - Merle West had been to Haiti dozens of times as part of the Free Methodist Church's mission work. He landed there again on Tuesday. An hour later, the earthquake hit.
He and fellow missionary, Gene Duford, from their home church in Clio haven't been heard from since.
Both men were supposed to report to the hospital or the church mission house, but both buildings were devastated in the quake.
Family members believe West and Duford died. A funeral service was held in Haiti where they were when the quake hit.
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Anxious family members waited by the phone, including Kristina Diekema. West is her sister-in-law's uncle.
"We get reports he was either at the hospital or the mission house. But either way, they were completely devastated," she said. "All I could think is he's under that building, and if he's alive, he's waiting. He's waiting for us to come and find him. And we can't."
Diekema told 24 Hour News 8 West helped build the hospital in Port-Au-Prince that collapsed in the quake. "He helped so much," she said, "and to think that someone who helped as much as he did is gone, it feels like a huge piece of this world is missing now."
But she said West's devotion to God and man is helping her cope. "It gives us comfort, it gives us the idea that if he did this, we need to pick up his work. We need to do it as well."
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