Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 | 11:24 a.m.
It was supposed to be one last adventure before settling in Las Vegas.
But for Kristi Anderson, 42, her trip to the coast of Sri Lanka ended up being her last adventure ever.
The beachside lodge in Yala National Park where Anderson was staying was completely wiped out in Sunday's massive tsunami.
The very foundation of the resort was apparently washed away, her family said, but Anderson's body and her passport were found on the shore where the hotel once stood.
Anderson is one of 12 Americans confirmed dead by the U.S. State Department as of Wednesday and is one of as many as 2,000 U.S. citizens who had been reported missing after the sea's upheaval devastated parts of 12 countries in southern Asia.
A mother and daughter from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Encino, Orlantha and Beulah Ambrose, also were killed in Yala National Park.
The exotic location, nestled between the ocean and a tropical jungle, was the perfect vacation spot for Kristi Anderson, her brother Mike Anderson, a police lieutenant from Scottsdale, Ariz., said.
Kristi preferred dwelling among the natives to staying in five-star hotels, Mike Anderson said, and always wanted to learn as much as possible about the people, the culture and the language of anyplace she visited.
When the Anderson family first heard of the tsunamis, Mike Anderson said they prayed that she was hiking in the jungle and not hanging out at the beach. They learned of her death Monday, he said.
Her brother Bruce Anderson, 44, is an interior designer and landscaper in Las Vegas whose clients have include casino mogul Steve Wynn and Cher. Bruce Anderson was supposed to have picked his sister up at McCarran International Airport this evening.
Kristi had recently purchased a new townhome next to Bruce in Spanish Trails, and was planning to just relax for a while, Mike Anderson said from Bruce's home this morning.
Bruce and Kristi had often taken trips together, including one boat trip down the Amazon River, and were looking forward to spending more time together, Mike Anderson said.
Convergis Corp., the international technology and communications staffing company she worked for, was even opening up a Las Vegas division for Kristi to be able to work here, Mike Anderson said.
She had just completed a project for the company overseeing call centers in Bangalore, India, before her trip to Sri Lanka, Mike Anderson said. Kristi had completed all of the goals for the two-year assignment in less than 10 months.
That was typical of his only sister who was the youngest of four siblings, Mike Anderson said.
"One day she'd be smoking cigars with some businessmen and the next she'd be petting an elephant in an Asian jungle," Mike Anderson said.
Sri Lanka had been one of the last areas in Asia that Kristi had not visited. Independent and strong-willed, his sister "never felt comfortable with roots," and thus traveled all over the world, Mike Anderson said.
She taught English and Spanish in Indonesia, Taiwan and China, Mike Anderson said, becoming fluent in Spanish and learning conversational Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Indonesian.
Kristi's heart for people and cultures led her to adopt children in Third World Countries through programs like the Christian Children's Fund, Mike Anderson said. But instead of just corresponding with them she actually went and visited the four she adopted, personally bringing them toys, clothings and school supplies.
"That's what lit her up, that was her reason for being the way she was," Mike Anderson said.
Her brothers said they plan to honor that legacy by using the money from her estate to help the victims of the tsunami, Mike Anderson said. Mostly likely they will piggyback with an already established charity, such as the Christian Children's Fund.
"That allows us to let her spirit continue even though her life has ended," Mike Anderson said.
Of the 12 Americans killed by the tsunami, seven died in Sri Lanka and five in Thailand, U.S. State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said. He would not disclose other information about the deaths.
"We don't know how many Americans were in the affected areas," Fintor said. "Typically, Americans don't register with us when they travel abroad."
The State Department has received thousands of calls on a hotline set up for Americans concerned about friends and family, Fintor said.
Many people have posted messages on Web sites and blogs, which have evolved into public announcement boards for those seeking to connect with loved ones.
Herb Meyer of Larkspur, a Marin County enclave north of San Francisco, was looking for his son, Peter, who works in the gem business in Bangkok, Thailand. When Peter Meyer last talked to his family before Christmas, he told them he was heading to the Indonesian island of Sumatra for the holidays.
"That was the last we heard from him," Herb Meyer, 73, said Wednesday. "We don't know where he was going to go."
The 9.0 earthquake was centered about 150 miles off Sumatra's shore and devastated its coastline.
Herb Meyer posted a message asking for any information on his 46-year-old son, who he described as "six feet tall, well built and has a receding hairline and hazel eyes."
Meyer hopes his son is just having trouble reaching a working phone or computer.
"We hope that he'll read our message on the computer, and he'll get back to us," Meyer said. "Every time the phone rings, we wonder if it's going to be some kind of response. ... I'm optimistic, but I'm also realistic."
Among the injured is Libby Wales, a 29-year-old Stanford Business School student who had traveled with friends to the island of Koh Phi Phi in Thailand. A classmate on her study-abroad program, 25-year-old Merced resident James Hsu, remains missing.
The Santa Rosa woman was due to board a plane for Australia on Sunday when the giant waves engulfed the beach, sucking away some 200 bungalows stretched across the sand, her father, Allen Wales, said Wednesday.
He and his wife have spoken to their daughter by telephone since she's been hospitalized.
He said she was alone in a bungalow when the tsunami hit, then was sucked into the ocean when the water receded and eventually tossed ashore. She was hospitalized with a "quite severe" gash on her leg, Allen Wales said.
After receiving treatment, doctors told her they needed the bed for gravely ill patients, so her parents hired a helicopter for $10,000 to fly Libby to a hospital in Bangkok. She is being treated for the leg wound, pneumonia and blood poisoning.
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