CDC worker on assignment in Haiti found dead

ATLANTA - Federal officials have confirmed the death of a 31-year-old Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worker who had been missing in Haiti since a devastating earthquake hit the country four weeks ago, the agency said Tuesday.

The body of Diane Caves, a CDC program analyst based at the agency's Atlanta headquarters, was identified Monday after it was found in the rubble of the Port-au-Prince hotel where she had been staying.

Her death was announced to CDC employees in a memo from the agency's director, Dr. Thomas Frieden.

Caves arrived in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 6 for a three-week assignment. She was completing a CDC plan for HIV-AIDS relief work in the impoverished Caribbean country.

``Diane's reasons for going to Haiti were characteristic of her deep commitment to helping others. Her sharp intellect, optimism, and adventurous spirit touched all who met her,'' Frieden said in the memo.

Through a CDC spokesman, her family declined media interviews but released this statement: ``We are all grateful for the extensive outpouring of prayers, phone calls, e-mails and cards of support and encouragement received over the past four weeks from friends, family, co-workers and the general public. Diane made a difference in the world and will be missed by all who knew her.''

On Jan. 11, the day of the earthquake, Caves left the American embassy in the Haitian capital around 3:30 p.m. About an hour later she spoke to her husband, Jeff, from the Hotel Montana where she was staying. The earthquake struck just before 5 p.m.

The hotel, a popular spot for foreign visitors, collapsed. Her husband, friends and co-workers have been posting pictures and messages on the ``Haiti Earthquake Hotel Montana'' page on Facebook and on Twitter looking for any information about her.

A CDC spokesman said he did not know what day her body was found, but it was identified Monday by the U.S. Department of State and the Health and Human Services Disaster Mortuary Response Team in Haiti.

The body was returned to the United States on Monday, where an autopsy will be performed. No services have been scheduled yet, said the spokesman, Joe Quimby.
Caves grew up in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is survived by her husband Jeff; her parents, Lee and Linda Berry; her brother, David Berry; her parents-in-law, Doug and Sherry Caves; her sister-in-law, Josie Caves; and her brother and sister-in-law, Kevin Caves and Meredid Caves.

She was the only CDC employee in Haiti killed in the earthquake. Two full-time U.S. citizens permanently assigned to Haiti and all the CDC's 35 Haitian employees were accounted for.

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