Rutland student Britney Gengel's body found in Haiti

RUTLAND, Mass. (FOX25, myfoxboston) - The body of Rutland college student Britney Gengel, who went to Haiti with her Florida school, has been found in the rubble of a Haiti hotel, according to Gengel’s family.

Rescuers had been searching the Hotel Montana rubble for over a month, and Gengel was the last body to be recovered from the Lynn University group that traveled to Haiti to help feed the poor.

>>The Gengel family has set up a fund in Britney's honor. Click here to visit the site

Eight people from the group survived the earthquake.

Shortly after the quake, Gengel’s parents were initially told their daughter had been found safe, but after the family flew to Florida to meet her, they were told the terrible news. The university had received bad information, and Britney had, in fact, not been found.

The family sent out the following statement on Sunday thanking those who helped in the search:

Our Valentine, Britney Gengel was recovered by COL Norberto Cintron and identified by the State Department today. Even though our hearts our breaking, we are so grateful to the men and women who have worked at the Hotel Montana for the past 33 days! Their efforts continue for the remaining 2 Americans still missing in the rubble at the Hotel Montana and we are praying for their families that their loved ones are brought home!!!

A heartfelt Thank You to Bill Hawkins, Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers, Chief Bob Zoldos of Fairfax S&R Team, Michelle Bernier-Toth of the State Department and COL Norberto Cintron of the US Army who all kept their promise to bring our baby home! God Bless them and their families!

The success of the recovery effort at the Hotel Montana would not have been possible without the help of Sen. John Kerry and his aid Drew O'Brien. Sen Kerry was the first U.S. Government Official to contact us in Florida during this Catastrophe! Also, U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern and his aid Chris Phillbin. Jim had the courage to accompany the Lynn University families to Haiti and witnessed first hand the sight and smell of Hell on Earth! Sen. Scott Brown and his aid Steven Schrage who were not afraid to get involved with this tragedy and to help us with the State Department Issues. Special thanks to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Chief of Staff, Cheryl Mills, who coordinated The Lynn University Family Trip to the Hotel Montana in Haiti!
Because of her efforts, the families were able to see first hand the Compassion, Conviction and Commitment of all the workers at the Hotel Montana site. This gave all the Lynn families peace of mind and comfort, seeing with their own eyes all the efforts that our Government were making in the Search and Rescue Mission! To Sen. Steve Brewer who came in our door the first night of the earthquake and has been a constant support thru this Horrific ordeal! Then Lew Evangelidis stepped up and got the new Sen. Scott Brown involved with our recovery efforts!
Our daughter Britney signed up for a 3 week course at Lynn University called Journey of Hope. We sat with her before she left and talked about this trip being a life changing event! We never knew that this trip would change our lives and hers forever! We want to thank Lynn University for all their efforts during such an incredibly difficult time! A special thanks to Dr Phil Riordan who never once forgot to hug us when we first saw him each day and Dr Cynthia Patterson who always watched over Brit while she was attending Lynn University! Lastly, we appreciate Dr Kevin Ross for not caving in under the pressure of this catastrophe and Leading the efforts of his team on the ground in Haiti and at Lynn University! We are Grateful to everyone at Lynn University who went out of their way to make us feel loved!!!

Finally we would like to thank our Family for their constant love and support, while never leaving our side for one minute during this tragedy! We are blessed with true friends who have felt our pain and suffering and have supported us thru this most difficult time in our lives! We are thankful to our community who have shown their support with kind words, prayers and yellow ribbons for our Britney's return home! Lastly, we are grateful to all the other wonderful, compassionate people in this great land of ours called the United States of America who have sent their thoughts, prayers and Love to us on a daily basis, we say God Bless!!!

We have our Faith, Hope and Love!!! Faith in God, Hope that someday we will be with Britney for an eternity in Heaven and Love of Family, Friends, Community and Country! We will now wait for our Britney to come home to us so that we can Celebrate Her Life and we can continue her Journey of Hope for the Poorest of the Poor in Haiti!!!

God bless all of you and God Bless Britney!

Len and Cherylann Gengel