The family of a Decatur man missing after a catastrophic earthquake rocked Nepal was optimistic Sunday despite not having heard from him since the disaster hit.
Marty Emanuel, 71, and a Nepali guide were on a trekking expedition, the second the duo has taken over the years, when the earthquake hit Saturday, killing more than 3,700 people.
Nepal’s communications system is “fragile” even under the best of conditions, so not hearing from her husband yet is far from unexpected, Emanuel’s wife, Anne, a retired Georgia State law professor, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday. Marty’s most recent overnight stay would have been at the Lama Hotel, she said, where some evacuation operations are being staged.
Anne Emanuel said that she and her husband, a sculptor and long-time faculty member at the Atlanta College of Art, went to Nepal several years ago and hit it off with a guide named Dilli. Marty was on another trip with Dilli this week and, at last check, the duo was trekking in the Langtang National Park area north of Kathmandu.
“So as long as they weren’t injured in any of the tremors or aftershocks, I really feel like they ought to be just fine, and I’m very optimistic that they are,” said Anne.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake’s epicenter was about 50 miles northwest of Kathmandu. The Associated Press reported that the quake was the worst to hit the Himalayan nation in more than 80 years and more than 3,700 had been confirmed dead as of Monday morning.
The earthquake was strong enough to be felt across parts of India, Bangladesh, Tibet and Pakistan.
Emanuel’s son, Brooks, posted on Facebook that his father last made contact with the family on Thursday, and that they had since shared his information with the U.S. State Department. Aside from that, they have little to do but wait for a call or an email.
“I’m optimistic that, you know, one of the rescue helicopters will get a note that they’re there, and hopefully that they’re fine,” said Anne Emanuel.
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