Bucks County flood victims are mourned as search for missing children is set to ‘scale down’

Bucks County officials said their search for two children missing after the weekend flooding in Upper Makefield Township continued to turn up empty, as the community mourns the loss of five people who died in the swells.

Loved ones shared fond memories Tuesday of those lost in the floodwaters that surged Saturday during a torrential downpour, including 78-year-old Enzo DePiero; his wife, 74-year-old Linda DePiero; and 64-year-old Yuko Love, all of Newtown Township.

Family members of Katheryn Seley, 32, from Charleston, S.C. — mother to the missing children — and Susan Barnhart, 53, of Titusville, N.J., did not wish to speak publicly about their losses.

For Joanne Depiero, the four-decade-plus marriage between couple Enzo and Linda DePiero was a marvel.

“They were so compatible,” said Joanne Depiero, who is married to Enzo’s brother, Juliano, but spells her surname differently. “They did everything together.”

Enzo DePiero’s body was recovered on Saturday along with Seley and Barnhart. Linda DePiero and Love were found dead Sunday.

Those who knew Love remembered her bubbly personality and unparalleled fashion sense.

“She walked in and she just lit up the room,” said Kelly Wattenmaker, a friend who met Love while working at a marketing research firm in the mid-90s. “She had an infectious smile.”

Rescue crews and droves of volunteers combed the area near Washington Crossing looking for any trace of siblings Matilda Sheils, 2, and Conrad, 9 months. The search will now “scale down,” with efforts transitioning to an underwater operation by dive teams, Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said during a Tuesday news conference.

Crews have covered the land area of the flood zone more than a dozen times, Brewer said.

Depiero, 84, who lives in North Carolina with Juliano, said she’d yet to learn why the DePieros were on the road as floodwaters swelled near Hough’s Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River near their Newtown Township home.

She holds fond memories of the California wedding of the DePieros’ only son, Zack, that brought the small family together in what she said was one of the couple’s happiest moments.

Then there were the hours that Enzo spent with their beloved 3-year-old granddaughter, Sarafia, affectionately known as “Fifi.”

“Fifi was his pride and joy, and of course Linda too,” Depiero said. “They were very, very close. Zack and his wife had no problem going away, because they had two very willing babysitters.”

Enzo and Juliano grew up in Staten Island, N.Y., and Trenton, N.J., Depiero said. Their parents hailed from a town outside of Venice, Italy.

Enzo had previously worked for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Joanne Depiero said. Linda had worked as a secretary for a pharmaceutical company.

“He was just a fabulous person, good sense of humor, great personality,” Joanne Depiero said of Enzo. “Linda was a warm and loving wife.”

Enzo loved gardening, Depiero said, and his green thumb kept their Newtown home well-manicured. Linda, she added, was more than happy to assist in its meticulous care.

Depiero and her husband hadn’t recently been up to Pennsylvania to visit, though they’d been planning a trip to Las Vegas with Enzo and Linda this fall.

Yuko Love, a marketing researcher who immigrated from Japan, came to Pennsylvania for college, where she met her husband, Dave, who survived the flood but remained hospitalized on Tuesday. Family members declined comment as he continued his recovery.

According to friends and colleagues, the couple adored raising golden retrievers, going to Broadway shows, and trying every cappuccino they could get their hands on.

Yuko Love lived up to her name — the kind of name that friends said aloud when they saw her, often with an exclamation point.

On any given day, Love might be bouncing between a Zumba class, juggling projects at work, or inviting friends to a sushi lunch and a Bloomingdale’s trip.

“She probably had more clothing than any one sane person should own, and she wore every color of the rainbow, and she looked fabulous every day,” said Suzanne Mears, a longtime friend and colleague. “It was for the joy of it. She did it for herself. You never saw her wearing gray.”

Her star-like energy extended to the workplace, where she had a reputation for results and helping others succeed. Marc Krones, 61, said she used her marketing savvy to help his business grow in the mid-2000s.

“She was a beautiful, down-to-earth, humble, smart, hard-working person,” Krones said. “Not all people are like that.”

A prayer vigil for the victims will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Washington Crossing United Methodist Church.

Staff writer Nick Vadala contributed to this article.