Memorial sculpture dedicated 5 years after Oso slide

OSO, Wash. – Five years after the deadliest landslide in U.S. history decimated a community northeast of Seattle residents Gail and Ron Thompson unveiled a bronze sculpture of mailboxes that were at the entrance to the Oso neighborhood.

The Daily Herald reported families of the victims, along with survivors and first responders, gather each year to remember the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014.

Dayn Brunner who lost his sister, Summer Raffo, in the slide said Friday’s gathering also was a milestone because the sculpture marked the start to a permanent memorial. The mailboxes are just one element in a proposed park.

Part of Highway 530 also has a new name. Signs for the Oso Slide Memorial Highway were unveiled between Arlington and Darrington.

For Gail Thompson, it symbolizes how the two towns came together for Oso and the valley between them.