Two weeks after an earthquake measuring 7.0 devastated Haiti, a Jefferson County man is still missing.

Ken Bourland, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, was staying at on the second floor of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince. He had sent an e-mail to his wife Peggy just minutes before the earthquake struck.

Peggy Bourland’s brother-in-law, Gardendale resident Bobby Greer, has been staying with his sister and her family in Florida while search and rescue teams in Haiti continue to look for Ken.

“They are getting more heavy equipment in there and they’ve gotten down to where they think Ken’s room is,” Greer said of the ongoing operations. “They’ve found some crevices and they’re trying to get into those.”

Greer said if Bourland was not in his room, he may have sent the e-mail from a nearby business center.

“With this much time passed, the window is very small for survival,” he said. “We’ve been reassured that the hotel isn’t going to be his final resting place. They’re going to work hard and find him.”

Greer said the family had been overwhelmed with the support from the north Jefferson County community. A fund in Ken Bourland’s name has also been set up at Regions Bank to help provide assistance to his family. Donations can be made at any Birmingham-area location.

“We’re just hoping for the best and kind of preparing for the worst,” Greer said. “The community has been so uplifting. Without those people reaching out, this would be so much harder.”