Sad News… Joplin Teen Who Was Sucked Out of Sunroof After Graduation Is Found Dead

Will Norton was on his way home from his Joplin High School graduation ceremony when the tornado hit on Sunday. The 18 year-old graduate was sucked through the sunroof of the car he was riding in with his father. He hasn’t been seen since.

Will Norton graduated from high school but never made it home. He is missing in Joplin, Missouri along with 1500 other people.

Last night the Norton family received confirmation that officials had found their son’s body.
KCTV 5 reported:

A teenager believed to be ejected or sucked from his father’s car on the way home from graduation in the massive Joplin tornado last week is dead.

Will Norton’s aunt, Tracey Presslor, said Saturday that the family received confirmation of his death late Friday night. She declined to say more until a later news conference.

Family members had previously told The Associated Press that Norton and his father were still on the road when the storm hit. Mark Norton urged his son to pull over, but the teen’s Hummer H3 flipped several times, throwing the young man from the vehicle, likely through the sunroof.

The elder Norton was hospitalized.

Several social-networking efforts specifically focused on finding information about Norton.

#1 May 28, 2011 at 9:35 am
Auntie Em commented:

So much sadness surrounding Joplin. I keep looking for the good to come out of this situation. It will….just not today, and especially not on Sunday when the “goat god” attempts to bless them with his countenance.
#2 May 28, 2011 at 9:51 am
Sickofobama commented:

Poor kid. He graduates and then dies. Not fair.

Joplin will recover one day.

In the mean time people can help either financially or by giving goods.

This weekend in Colorado there is a business, “Safelite Auto Glass” that is excepting goods for Joplin that will be heading to Joplin on Tuesday.

The owner of the business is from Joplin and her mom’s house was destroyed.

And Auntie Em:

You are right about goat-boy. He should stay away because he could care less about the plight of others.

It will only be for a photo-op.
#3 May 28, 2011 at 9:52 am
Sickofobama commented:

Auntie Em:

I should have read your post again: “goat-god” “goat-boy” it’s all the same.
#4 May 28, 2011 at 9:59 am
Opus#6@AmericanPerspective commented:

So sad.

Condolences to the families of all who were lost.
#5 May 28, 2011 at 9:59 am
campfollower commented:

This has been on my mind since I heard it, and am so sorry to hear this outcome. I’ll pray for his family.

My daughter, who just made it through the tornado in Tuscaloosa, asked a good question about this the other day. Why did they have their sunroof open at the time anyway? Were they trying to see the tornado, I wonder?

I hope people will take a lesson from these stories. When weather like this is imminent, don’t go out in it, take cover. And if you can plan for taking cover in a basement, a real basement, rather than a bathtub, try to do so. So much loss…my prayers are with all the people affected this year, in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Ark, OK, MO and more.

The government cannot protect us against weather…and I’m afraid people assume they can or do…
#6 May 28, 2011 at 10:08 am
ramapar ranger commented:

Communications are severely interrupted in Joplin, the 1500 is people who have not been contacted, not people missing.
#7 May 28, 2011 at 10:13 am
Joanne commented:

So sad.
#8 May 28, 2011 at 10:54 am
MS commented:

It’s very sad news that this young man has not survived. I’ve talked to the father of one of the first responders in this case. There really was little hope for survival.

#5- campfollower, the tornado shattered all the glass in the vehicle. IIRC senior graduation had just ended when the tornado struck, which is why so many Seniors are among the missing.

The official missing list for Joplin has been pared down to 132 or 156 depending on source. There seems to be some discrepancy in verifying found, missing and dead. The Joplin Globe is reporting that families are having problems verifying their dead. ( possibly due to the need for DNA verification in so many cases. )
#9 May 28, 2011 at 10:54 am
Pat the First commented:

How sad for that family. Tornados scare me. I have only been in a couple of attacks when I lived in the south for a short time. However, there was one that hit yesterday in the state of WA. Not a big one, but one did hit. Made the news.
#10 May 28, 2011 at 11:19 am
Tom63010 commented:

I’d almost guarantee he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. As a survivor a wreck where the 1993 Blazer I was a sleeping passeger violently flipped causing almost all it’s contents, except for me and the driver to be ejected I urge people to always wear a seat belt. I walked away with seat belt bruises. The driver walked away with road rash (the car slid across the highway on the driver side), a black eye, and sealt belt bruises.
#11 May 28, 2011 at 12:41 pm
catwoman368 commented:

Auntie Em and Sickofobama, I am sure he will have in his speech,several I’s as it is always about him. Goat god is a perfect name for him; when will he sprout horns?The people of Joplin have suffered enough without having to put up him and his entourage.
#12 May 29, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Margaret commented:

Tom 63010,

Norton’s father from the beginning was quoted as saying his son’s seatbelt snapped, and that they were holding onto one another, and the storm took him even though he tried to hold on. That anguished father is living with the memory of having his son’s seatbelt fail, and having his son ripped from his arms.

Enough speculation. It insults both the dead and the living.