Body of last known victim is recovered from Mississippi

In a tone both laudatory and somber, Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek announced late Monday in the shadows of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse wreckage that the nearly three-week recovery efforts had finally come to an end.

"We have reunited each of the known [previously missing] victims of the bridge disaster: Peter, Sadiya and Hana, Vera and Richard, Christine, Scott and Greg with their families that so anxiously and lovingly awaited them," Stanek said.

The body of Greg Jolstad, a 45-year-old road construction worker from Mora, Minn., and the last known victim of the tragedy, was found about 6:15 p.m. Monday.

Stanek said workers recovered Jolstad from the river in the same general area as the other victims.

While the recovery efforts have ceased, work at the bridge site will continue for weeks to come, primarily centering around debris removal and cleanup, he said.

This new phase also means that authorities will allow more access to the area around the bridge site.

Stanek said that the details of the new perimeter had yet to be finalized but that he planned to meet with city of Minneapolis officials today to discuss reopening some nearby streets and bridges.

With the discovery of Jolstad's body, the death toll of the Aug. 1 catastrophe now officially stands at 13.

Jolstad, a machine operator for Progressive Contractors Inc. of St. Michael, Minn., was one of 18 construction workers doing resurfacing work on the bridge and the only one among them who wasn't found after the bridge fell.

He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and three stepchildren, Katie, 19; Kim, 18, and Nick, 17.

As of late Monday, an autopsy was pending and Jolstad's cause of death had not been determined, according to the Hennepin County medical examiner's office.

Meanwhile, seven bridge collapse survivors were still hospitalized, with two listed in serious condition, four satisfactory, one in good condition.

Federal aid sought

Also Monday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty asked President Bush to declare the bridge collapse a major disaster, a designation that would make it eligible for federal money to help defray an estimated $8.5 million bill for emergency workers' overtime, equipment expenses and other response costs.

He also asked for federal money for low-interest loans to help businesses affected by the catastrophe.

In a letter to Bush, Pawlenty said Minneapolis and Hennepin County have been significantly affected by the collapse.

"I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments," he wrote.

In the letter, Pawlenty assured Bush that state and local governments would pay their required share, an estimated $2.1 million.

Pawlenty also asked for loan money for businesses from the Small Business Administration, saying there has been a "significant economic impact" on local businesses because of interruptions in river traffic and reroutings of highway traffic.

Meanwhile, commuters got a little relief after highway workers completed a weekend lane expansion project on Interstate 94 just in time for rush hour.

On a 3-mile stretch of the freeway, workers added a lane in each direction to accommodate extra traffic detoured because of the collapse.

They ground off 11,000 tons of material, replaced it and repainted lines, said Beth Petrowske, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The expansion will enable the freeway to handle 2,000 additional cars in each direction during rush hour.

What's ahead

As efforts around the bridge shift to cleanup, the Transportation Department and its contractors will become the primary overseers of the work.

Still, Stanek said, the Sheriff's Office will maintain a presence at the site, continuing what has essentially been an around-the-clock operation for the department for 20 days.

In his remarks Monday night, he praised both the efforts of Sheriff's Office officials and the work of numerous other agencies ranging from the Department of Defense, the Army Corps of Engineers, the FBI and several other area sheriff's offices.

The various workers all have had heavy hearts during the process, Stanek said, adding that "there are not a lot of smiles here tonight."

He added: "In the past twenty days I have witnessed the illogical and the unthinkable, but for me the most remarkable -- and the most inspiring -- is that from the chaos and rubble ... there emerged an indelible picture of greatness -- people who ... pushed beyond all comfort and comprehension, with no boundary or limit to their sense of duty."

tford@startribune.com • 612-673-4921 plouwagie@startribune.com • 612-673-7102