BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Lt. Colonel Ken Bourland had traveled to Haiti as part of an Air Force disaster preparedness team. He arrived the morning of the earthquake.
Via telephone, Bourland's wife Peggy sounded in good spirits, hopeful that as other survivors have been found days after the quake, her husband will be found as well.
While most of the family is in Florida to provide support for Peggy, her sister-in-law remains in Gardendale, and I talked to her earlier today about her brother-in-law.
Ken’s sister-in-law Tammie Greer said, "He's a really great guy, he's a lot of fun, loves playing with kids."
Bourland is one of the estimated thousands buried under rubble in Haiti. He was part of an Air Force disaster preparedness team that had arrived in Haiti the morning of the earthquake.
Just minutes before the rumble, the recently promoted Lt. Colonel sent his wife Peggy an e-mail. That's the last anyone has heard from him.
Greer said, "They're just trying to keep their thoughts on thinking on what is true instead of thinking on other things that nobody knows are true."
Bourland is a Huffman High School graduate. When he attended Birmingham Southern College he was a member of the ROTC and when he left here he joined the Air Force.
In Haiti, Bourland sent his e-mail from the four-star Hotel Montana where UN Peacekeepers stayed. It collapsed during the quake. With Bourland suspected to still be inside the hotel, his family hopes that Bourland will be found alive because other survivors have been rescued from that building.
Greer said, "The guys who were with him, we heard, the other guys who were working with him, they had been found and they're OK, and so we're just trying to keep our hopes up just trust in God to take care of us and take care of him."
The Bourlands have three children and make their home in Weston, Florida.
Today alone, there have been several reports that dozens have been pulled from Haiti's Hotel Montana by rescue teams. Their nationalities were not released.
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