Gretna story pulled from the comment section

Jonquil, in the comment section for the big Gretna post, repeats this story from the LA Times. The full story is about a family in the funeral home business who had to flee New Orleans, but burried in it, is this story:

The Rhodeses are proud people, and they feel deeply wounded by what happened in New Orleans.

Among the people trapped in the city were Sandra's son and her ex-husband, Otis, 61, a diabetic who has used a wheelchair since his leg was amputated.

Otis had gone without dialysis for five days when their sons, Otis Jr., 35, and Orrin, 34, decided to push his wheelchair down the highway in search of help. They ended up walking miles.

They were near safety that Wednesday after the hurricane — most of the way across the Crescent City Bridge into Gretna, La. — when an armed officer told them to turn back because Gretna officials were concerned about looting.

By the time they made it out of New Orleans, hitching a ride on a truck, the younger men's feet were bloody and covered with rashes. Otis Sr. had fallen out of his wheelchair three times while they were walking and had open wounds on his head. He was nearly in a coma.

Why was this not the lede?