Officials Thursday said 232 people were still missing four days after a tornado tore through a Missouri town, adding that some of them may be among the 125 dead found following the storm.
Officials have only managed to positively identify one of the 125 bodies recovered from the rubble after the powerful twister roared across Joplin late Sunday causing a wide trail of destruction.
They pleaded with anxious family members for patience while they undertake a lengthy identification process involving DNA testing and fingerprinting.
Asked why families were not being allowed into the morgue to visually identify their loved ones, Missouri deputy director of public safety Andrea Spillers said: "It is not 100 percent accurate, and 100 percent accurate is our goal."
"The 232, we can\'t presume that all of those are deceased," she added, cautioning that the list could change if more missing persons reports are filed, or as more bodies are identified.
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