MONTECITO, Calif. -- More than two full days after mudslides ravaged this coastal town, the search for the missing became an increasingly desperate exercise Thursday, with growing doubts about whether anyone would be found alive.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said some people had been rescued Thursday. But the death toll stood at 17 -- including victims ages 3 to 89 -- and more than 40 others were unaccounted for, authorities said.
David Weinert, who feared two of his neighbors were among the dead and turned out to be right in at least one case, said he feared the worst for those who remained missing.
"They're not going to find survivors anymore. They're going to find bodies in the mud," he said.
The air smelled of sewage and ash as more than a dozen firefighters climbed through rubble in the backyard of a mansion that had been ripped in half. Some rescuers used poles to probe the muck for bodies, while others waded chest-deep in the mire. Two search dogs swam around, trying to pick up any scent.
"At this moment we are still looking for live victims," said Santa Barbara fire Capt. Gary Pitney. But, he conceded, "The likelihood is increasing that we'll be finding bodies, not survivors."
Crews marked places where bodies were found, often far away from a home, and used that information to guess where other victims might have ended up as the surging mud carried or buried them.
The disaster, touched off by heavy rain, took many homeowners by surprise early Tuesday, despite evacuation orders and warnings issued days in advance that mudslides were possible because recent wildfires in the hills had stripped away vegetation that normally holds soil in place.
As the rainwater made its way downhill with gathering force, it pried boulders from the ground and picked up trees and other debris that flattened homes and cars.
County authorities sent a shudder through the community early Thursday when they reported that the number of people unaccounted for had surged from 16 to 48. But within an hour they said they had made a clerical error, and the actual number of missing was eight.
"How does that happen?" Weinert asked. "That's a crazy mistake to make."
Later in the day, however, the sheriff said the number was at 43, combining missing persons reports filed with law enforcement and also inquiries by people who hadn't been able to contact family members or friends.
Brown said some of those people could have left the area before or after the mudslides or may simply be out of touch with people concerned about them.
After a better look at the damage, officials lowered the number of destroyed homes from 100 to 64 and raised the number of damaged ones from 300 to 446.
Overall, 28 people were injured. Twelve remained hospitalized, four in critical condition.
One of the victims was David Cantin, the father of a 14-year-old girl who was heavily caked in mud when she was pulled from the ruins of her home after a dramatic six-hour rescue.
Information for this article was contributed by Amanda Lee Myers, John Antczak, Michael Balsamo, Andrew Dalton and Aron Ranen of The Associated Press.
A Section on 01/12/2018