WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama travels to Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday to view the aftermath of the deadly tornado there and visit with survivors and relatives of the dead.

US President Barack Obama greets a resident of Joplin as he inspects tornado damage, May 29, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Obama is going there a day after returning from a six-day European tour of Ireland, England, France and Poland.

The president is scheduled to visit with survivors and family members of the worst tornado in decades, a monster storm that tore through Joplin a week ago leaving at least 139 dead and hundreds more injured.

A hundred others are unaccounted for.

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The numbers look increasingly bleak for families hoping for the best.

Thousands more people far beyond Joplin had been waiting for good news about a teen believed to have been either thrown or sucked from his vehicle on the way home from graduation.

Several social-networking efforts specifically focused on finding information about Will Norton.

But his family said he, too, is among the dead - found in a pond near where his truck was located.

"At least we know that he wasn't out there suffering," his aunt Tracey Presslor said, holding a framed portrait of her 18-year-old nephew at a news conference.

"Knowing that he was gone right away was really a blessing for us."

Mark Rohr, Joplin City manager, said on Saturday during a news conference that the death toll rose by three to at least 142, but later revised that figure down to 139 without elaboration.

If the death toll does stand at 139, it would place this year's tornado death toll at 520 and make 2011 the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950.

Until now, the highest recorded death toll by the US National Weather Service in a single year was 519 in 1953.

Associated Press