MINNEAPOLIS &#8212 Lisa Jolstad’s worst fear since the I-35W bridge collapse was that her husband would still be missing in the Mississippi River after all the other victims of the disaster had been found.

That’s exactly what happened. But searchers who returned to the water Monday plan to keep looking for construction worker Greg Jolstad, even though he could have been swept away forever down the river.

“They promised me they won’t give up, and I believe them,” Jolstad said.

Greg Jolstad, 45, was part of a crew resurfacing the bridge when it fell. He was driving a skid loader, a piece of construction equipment most commonly known by the brand name Bobcat.

Kathryn Janicek, spokeswoman for Hennepin County sheriff Rich Stanek said finding Jolstad’s body remained the top priority of the recovery operation.

“You need to know that those guys are back in the water this morning, and we’re not giving up,” Janicek said Monday. “They’re continuing 24-7 to find him, period. Hopefully we’ll have very good news soon.”

Stanek said that areas downstream from the bridge are also subject to search in case any victims were swept from the collapse site by the river current.

Also Monday, Gov. Tim Pawlenty asked President Bush to declare the collapse a major disaster, which would ultimately make the state eligible for more federal money. Pawlenty said the emergency response costs alone would be more than $8 million.

Greg Jolstad was one of 18 construction workers on the bridge working for Progressive Contractors Inc; all but Jolstad survived the collapse, seven of them suffering injuries, but none critical.

Jolstad had worked for PCI for 10 years, often commuting 90 miles one way to road jobs in the Twin Cities from his home in the central Minnesota town of Mora.

Lisa and Greg Jolstad were married in 1995 and lived with Lisa’s three children from a previous marriage in a 97-year-old farmhouse north of town where Greg grew up.

“Greg never wanted to venture far from home,” Lisa Jolstad said.

Lisa Jolstad speaks several times a day with a Minneapolis police officer who gives her updates on the search. She said she’s been notified immediately every time a body is found, and after it is identified.

She found out early Sunday that divers had found the body of the 12th victim, Scott Sathers, 29. Thus, Greg Jolstad was the only person still known to be missing from the collapse.

Jolstad said her main source of support has been Greg’s mother, Dorothy Svendsen. “We’re leaning on each other,” Jolstad said.

Jolstad said she’s trying to keep occupied by getting the farmhouse ready for winter.

“I sit home every night, and I just can’t believe he’s not coming home,” she said. “I look out the window and it’s weird not to see his truck. I look at the sky and know he’s up there, and I say ‘why did you have to leave, Greg?'”