Five people were killed in the storm. The victims have been identified by their family, friends and neighbors in the days after the storm.
ST. LOUIS — An EF3 tornado touched down in the St. Louis area Friday and left a path of devastation that was more than 20 miles long. The powerful storm left utility poles snapped, homes and businesses destroyed and five people dead.
5 On Your Side now knows the identities of all five victims. These are their names and stories.
48-year-old Juan Baltazar had just left work and was driving on Grand Drive in Carondelet Park when a massive tree, uprooted by tornado-force winds, came crashing down on his truck. He was killed instantly.
“I’ve lived here for 38 years and never in my life have I experienced a tornado come through the city,” Jennifer Hartley, Juan’s ex-wife, told 5 On Your Side.
It wasn’t until later in the evening that the community learned Baltazar was the man inside the crushed blue Ford truck, the same truck shown on 5 On Your Side’s live storm coverage broadcasts, crushed beneath the weight of the tree.
The couple lived just minutes away. She said he was nearly home.
Baltazar leaves behind seven children, three here in the U.S., and four in Mexico. Juan and Rachel share two children, just 3 and 6 years old. Rachel said they don’t yet understand what’s happened.
Known for his popular street corn sold from his food truck, El Mandilón, Baltazar was a fixture and actively supported the St. Louis Latino community. Rachel said her husband poured his heart into the business and his family.
Baltazar’s family is now asking for help covering funeral costs and supporting his children. Rachel has set up a GoFundMe, which you can find here.
Hartley’s husband, the stepfather to Martin, also set up a GoFundMe to help Martin and the rest of Baltazar’s children.
The beloved matriarch of a north St. Louis family died Friday after an EF3 tornado hit the city, destroying the family home.
70-year-old Deloris Holmes was at the family house on Cote Brilliante Avenue when the roof was torn off the three-story building. The family lived in the home for more than 40 years.
“I was just rushing through the storm,” her son Reginald Holmes said. “I was calling her name, flipping things over and stuff, trying to get a response … no response. The second floor, third floor, back kitchen — everything gone.”
Deloris was a beloved great-grandmother and neighbor who loved to work in her yard. Her goddaughter Chaunta Gibbs, a certified nursing assistant, tried to give her CPR.
“She got a pulse, she could still be saved,” Chaunta recounted. “I’ve brought back so many… in the last 20 years, you know me not able to bring her back… devastating,” she said while trying to fight back tears.
Reginald has opened a GoFundMe to support the family. You can donate through this link.
On Monday, family members confirmed to 5 On Your Side that mother Rena Lyles was killed when her home was destroyed by the storm. She was the mother of five daughters.
When the tornado came through Bayard Avenue in Fountain Park, Rena and her husband, Allan, were trying to take shelter.
Rena’s daughter, Cieara, tells us sirens didn’t go off, but the lights started flickering. Rena and Allan were holding hands about to walk down to the basement, but the tornado ripped through the house, separating them and throwing Rena backwards into her bedroom.
A dresser fell on top of her, then the house collapsed on her.
Rena and Allan were married for 25 years. This was their family home since Rena was 9 years old.
“Once the house crumbled down on them, someone came and pulled him out, but he could not find my mom,” Cieara Scott, Rena’s daughter, said. “So after some hours, they finally dug my mom out. And when they dug her out, she was gone.”
“It’s so hard. Just knowing that the only house that you have stayed in is gone,” Scott said. “The only thing that you had as a family to remember is gone. Every part of my mom is gone”
Her parents were the block captains on the street and said Rena made a huge impact in the community.
Now, her daughters are planning her funeral.
Patricia Ann Penelton was inside Centennial Christian Church, located at 4950 Fountain Ave. in the city’s Fountain Park neighborhood, when the building collapsed Friday at about 3 p.m.
The victim’s name had not been released by officials, but her husband identified her as Patricia Ann Penelton, a volunteer from Ballwin who started making bag lunches at the church for neighborhood children in 2020 during COVID. She then started a hot food program and weekend mobile lunch service.
78-year-old Larry Patrick
Debbi Patrick said her 78-year-old father, Larry Patrick, was killed in his home on the 4200 block of Margaretta Avenue.
Patrick, who was undergoing chemotherapy for prostate cancer, was on the lower level in the front room of the home when the tornado hit.
Debbi Patrick said firefighters couldn’t find him, but a search dog was brought in and led first responders to his body under the rubble.
The retiree used to own Pat’s Auto Body at 4225 West Natural Bridge.
