Dayn Brunner says he does not hold out much hope of finding his sister alive - but he can't give up the search.
"If it were me in there, she would do the same thing," he says.
Summer Raffo, 36, was driving along Route 530 in Oso on Saturday morning when the giant landslide swept through. No-one has heard from her since.
Dayn has joined rescue crews picking their way through the debris in the foothills if the Cascade Mountains.
He told Sky News: "It is important to me to get in there and get her out. Knowing this is no longer a rescue mission, it is hard."
His story is similar to dozens in this breathtakingly beautiful corner of America.
Around 30 homes were destroyed and dozens more damaged by the mudslide While some may still hold out hope for loved ones missing or unaccounted for, the number of people thought to have been in Oso at the time of the slide means the death toll is certain to rise significantly.
I spoke to another man who had just heard from his son, searching in the wreckage of the family home. "He's found my wife and my other son. They're dead," he told me.
They had moved to their home on Steelhead Drive, the road that took the brunt of the slide, just two years ago.
"It was beautiful. My wife had never been happier," he said.
Residents attended a candlelight vigil as the death toll rose further Everyone here knows someone who is missing.
Names and faces on Facebook pages and messages of hope are a mere indication of the pain being felt.
If talk of a 'tight-knit community' can sometimes seem clichéd, here in the wilds of the Pacific North West it is very real.
The towns either side of Oso have rallied to support those caught up in this disaster. Meals and comfort are being offered as hopes of anyone being found alive are dwindling.
Messages for victims' families have been left at a nearby Community Centre A few miles away, the scene greeting rescue teams in Oso has been described as "unimaginable".
"It is unfathomable what kind of devastation there is. You have mounds of dirt 70ft tall by 100ft wide and 200ft long sitting in what used to be somebody's yard," said Dayn Brunner.
At the roadblock on Route 530, one can just about make out the edge of the slide between the flashing lights of rescue teams.
A sketch artist from the local newspaper stands on the banks of the River Stillaguamish and captures the scene. It is a peaceful and slightly surreal counterpoint to the devastation nearby.
People here are used to living alongside the beauty of nature. They are now living with the horror of its power.
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