Tornado survivor: ‘Not knowing is worse than knowing’

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Autumn Kirks and her boyfriend, Lannis Ward, were both working the night shift at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, when a massive tornado struck. Then her boyfriend went missing — and all she could do was wait. Early Sunday, Kirks stood outside His House Ministries in Mayfield, where people have been told to go to wait for word about the missing. In the aftermath of the tornado that roared through the western Kentucky darkness early Saturday morning, the chances for good news seemed to diminish by the hour. Later in the day, Kirks learned that Ward didn’t make it, joining the dozens of people across five states who were killed by the storm.