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Body of AF major found in Haiti hotel rubble

A search team on Sunday found the body of the Air Force major killed in Haiti after his hotel collapsed during the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, his family said.

Maj. Ken Bourland had not been heard from since the Jan. 12 earthquake after he sent an e-mail to his wife from his hotel room minutes before it hit. He and six other members of U.S. Southern Command had flown to Haiti on the day of the earthquake to attend a disaster relief conference.

Bourland’s body was found under the rubble of Hotel Montana, the collapsed five-story hotel where he and his colleagues had stayed. The others in the Southern Command team, including deputy director Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, suffered only minor injuries.

A career UH-1 Huey pilot and the Caribbean desk officer at the command’s headquarters in Miami, Bourland’s body was returned to the United States on Monday morning. His family traveled from Florida to Dover Air Force Base, Del., to watch an Air Force carry team complete the dignified transfer of his remains.

Bourland’s family held out hope even 15 days after he went missing, wife Peggy said. Each story of an earthquake survivor helped the family hold out hope until Air Force officers told the family that Bourland’s body had been found.

Bourland leaves behind his wife, two sons — Carley, 3, and Andrew, 16 months — and his stepson Chance, 14.

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