Families try to keep the faith of finding loved ones after condo collapse

Families and friends woke up Saturday morning in hopes that their loved ones would be among those rescued by first responders.

Some are keeping the faith while others are angry. One man teared up telling WINK News reporter Dannielle Garcia that he has five family members trapped under the rubble.

Within the last 12 hours, both family and media have been moved farther away from the site and now they all have less of a view of what’s going on.

But, with every passing hour, it gets harder and harder for these families to keep the faith that their loved ones will be rescued. Yet, they’re still anxiously awaiting updates.

They are giving their DNA just in case their loved one is found so that they can be identified. Family members look on from the beach at the destruction and pray, hold hands and try to keep each other strong.

Paola Muniz wants to be strong for her best friend. “Her sister, her nephew, and her brother-in-law and brother-in-law’s family were on the seventh floor, so they’re here,” Muniz said.

Luis Andres Bermudez has muscular dystrophy and he can’t walk. And, knowing that he’s trapped in there with his parents breaks Muniz’s heart.

“He’s a miracle,” she said. And she’s still praying for a miracle but waking up to see the numbers haven’t changed.

The memorial nearby is growing with more flowers from strangers and teddy bears from firefighters with tears in their eyes, all in an effort to support the families.

There are even dogs with a very important mission on hand. Joyce Pesselyaskoski works with Bonafide Therapy Dogs.

“They just got down on the floor and started petting them, some of them were crying; it’s… it’s heartbreaking. It’s heartbreaking for us as well and we didn’t know anybody here,” Pesselyaskoski said.

You do not have to know anyone inside these buildings to feel the pain and sadness their loved ones are experiencing.