TOLUCA, Mexico. – A 22-year-old woman from Spokane was killed in a tornado while she was visiting her fiancé in Toluca, Mexico, on Thursday.
Lexi Thorp, originally born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was one of two people killed by the twister; the other victim was her fiancé’s brother. Local media reported the tornado knocked down a fence and crushed the pair just feet away from shelter.
The storm swept through Toluca just one day after strong winds brought down a stage at a campaign event farther up north in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, a state in northeast Mexico. Local media reports at least nine people were killed in Monterrey, dozens injured.
Lexi’s father, Tim Thorp, traveled to Mexico City near Toluca on Sunday to do the unimaginable; identify his daughter’s body at a morgue. Thorp said Lexi had a contagious laugh.
“She was amazing, she was funny, always putting a smile on everybody’s face, always telling jokes,” Thorp said.
The woman’s family decided to cremate her body and now the goal is to get her back to Spokane, but that’s proving to be a challenge.
“Just tons of paperwork you have to do to get back across the border to the United States,” Thorp said.
Thorp is in contact with the U.S. Embassy and local police in Mexico, working on documentation for his daughter; he hopes they will be able to cross the border within the next week.
“Once we get her across the border it shouldn’t be as bad to get her on a plane and back home to Spokane,” he said.
Back home to the Inland Northwest, where a community is grieving the loss of Lexi, a young woman who loved animals, anything involving the outdoors, and above all her tight-knit family. She has a twin sister and older brother.
“My daughter, my son, they’re having a hard time,” Thorp said. “She feels like she lost her other half because she was a twin, and my son is just crushed because that was one of his best friends, and she was one of my best friends.”
When Lexi’s remains are back in Spokane, Thorp said a service of some kind will be held for her. The family has a fundraiser online if you’d like to help them financially get through this difficult time, if you’d like to donate, visit Tim Thorp’s Facebook page for more information.
