Surfside: The stories of recovered victims

Author: WINK News & wire reports
Published: Updated:
Local resident Louis Thompson touches pictures of friends missing in the collapse of Champlain Towers South, as he visits a makeshift memorial to the scores of people who remain missing or were killed, nearly a week after the condo building partially collapsed, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Surfside, Fla.. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ninety-eight people died when the 12-story Champlain Towers South condo tower in Surfside partially collapsed in the early morning hours of Thursday, June 24.

All 98 have been identified, with 97 names released and two names withheld at the request of the families.

Among the victims:

MANUEL “MANNY” LAFONT, 54

Manuel LaFont (Photo courtesy of Abriana LaFont)

Adriana LaFont described her ex-husband Manuel “Manny” LaFont as a “very strong guy, full of life.” The couple shared a 10-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter. They were with their dad in No. 801 the night before the collapse, leaving just three hours before it happened. “I feel like they are born again and I can hug them and kiss them and that keeps me going,” LaFont said. Before her ex-husband was found, LaFont pleaded for him to return. “So I’m just waiting for Manny. I’m just waiting for him … Oh, Manny, we are waiting for you … the kids, and we want to hug you and tell you how much we love you and that everything is going to be OK.”

LaFont, a Houston native, coached his son’s baseball team, the Astros, at North Shore Park, just a mile away from the Champlain. He was a parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach.

An alumnus of Sharpstown High School in Houston, LaFont had worked across Latin America and the Caribbean for a manufacturing firm, leading a division focusing on roadway safety that built crash cushions and moveable barriers, the Herald reported.

“I got into this industry specifically because I don’t want to sell widgets. I want to help people. I want to do something good in this world,” he said at an industry conference in 2016. “When I die, I want to say that my life meant something.”

GLADYS LOZANO, 80
ANTONIO LOZANO, 83

Gladys and Antonio Lazano (Photo courtesy of Sergio Lazano)

Antonio and Gladys Lozano lived in No. 903. The two had known each other over 60 years and would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary on July 21.

Their sons told WPLG-TV that the couple had joked neither wanted to die before the other, because neither wanted to live without the other. Their one solace, the brothers said, was that they were together when they died.

Authorities confirmed on Saturday that Antonio, 83, and Gladys, 79, were among the dead.

Sergio Lozano said he had dinner with his parents hours before the collapse. He lived in one of the towers of the complex and could see his parents’ apartment across the way from his. That night, he said they heard a loud noise they thought could be a storm.

“The building is not there,” he said he told his wife. “My parents’ apartment is not there. It’s gone.”

STACIE DAWN FANG, 54

Facebook photo of Stacie Dawn Fang

Stacie Dawn Fang was with her 15-year-old son Jonah Handler in No. 1002 when the building collapsed. The boy’s small hand waved through the wreckage as a man who was out walking his dog hurried to the site, climbed through a pile of glass and rebar and promised to get help right away.

Rescuers helped the boy out from under a pile of cement and carried him away on a stretcher, taking him to a hospital. Stacie was also rescued and taken to the hospital where she later died.

“There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie,” members of her family said in a statement. “Many heartfelt words of encouragement and love have served as a much-needed source of strength during this devastating time.”

As far as the boy’s condition, a friend of the family, Lisa Mozloom told the AP “He will be fine. He’s a miracle.”

LEON OLIWKOWICZ, 80
CRISTINA OLIWKOWICZ, 74

Leon Oliwkowicz and Cristina Beatriz de Oliwkowicz (Credit: EdenCheckol/Twitter)

Leon Oliwkowicz and his wife Cristina Beatriz de Oliwkowicz lived in Nov. 704 for several years, according to Venezuelan journalist Shirley Varnagy, a close friend of their family.

They had already sent their children to live in the U.S. from Venezuela, and then joined them as the economic and political crisis worsened in their native country, said Rabbi Moshe Perlstein, dean of the Yeshivas Ohr Eliyahu-Lubavitch Mesivta, an Orthodox Jewish School in Chicago where one of their daughters, Leah Fouhal, works as an office manager.

Perlstein flew to Florida to support Fouhal after the disaster as she waited anxiously to learn her parents’ fate. Late Sunday, authorities announced that their bodies had been recovered.

“On Friday, she was there and she was standing a few blocks away, and smoke was coming from the (collapsed building). And she tells me, ‘I just hope I’ll be able to bury my parents instead of their ashes…’ And then, thank God she was able to bury her parents, not the ashes,” he said.

“The Jewish people have unfortunately known too many cases where we have buried ashes. We don’t want to bury people, but it’s better than burying ashes,” he said as he prepared for their funeral on Monday.

Perlstein said the couple was known for their generosity: Three years ago, they donated a valuable Torah scroll to the school in memory of Leon Oliwkowicz’s parents.

“He was a person that enjoyed when he gave, he was happy. He loved giving,” Perlstein said. “With his wife, they were very dedicated to their children, helping the children, doing anything they could for their children,” he said. “It was their life – giving to the family and giving charity to others.”

ANA ORTIZ, 46
LUIS BERMUDEZ, 26

Luis Bermudez and Ana Ortiz (via CBS Miami)

Luis Bermudez, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, had battled with muscular dystrophy for years and used a wheelchair. The 26-year-old man lived with his mother Ana Ortiz in No. 702.

His father, also named Luis Bermudez, texted the AP saying “my son is a hero.” He also wrote on Facebook that he could not believe he’s gone.

“Now rest in peace and without any obstacles in heaven,” he wrote. “I will see you soon my Luiyo.”

Ortiz, 46, had just gotten married to Frankie Kleiman, whose body was recovered Monday, June 28. Alex Garcia, the couple’s close friend, told The Miami Herald he had set them up on a blind date. Kleiman lived with his wife and stepson on the same floor as his brother Jay Kleiman, who was in town for a funeral, and their mother Nancy Kress Levin. The body of Frankie Kleiman was among those recovered June 28. Jay Kleiman and Levin were recovered July 5.

Ortiz was described as a woman who was committed to giving her son the best possible life.

“She’s a rock star. And gorgeous,” Garcia told the Herald. “And on top of that a super mom.”

FRANK KLEIMAN, 55
NANCY KRESS LEVIN, 76
JAY KLEIMAN, 52

Frank Kleiman and Ana Ortiz (via CBS Miami)

Frankie Kleiman was newly married to Ana Ortiz, 46. The couple lived in No. 702 with Ana’s son, Luis Bermudez, 26.

Alex Garcia, the couple’s close friend, told The Miami Herald he had set them up on a blind date. Kleiman lived with his wife and stepson on the same floor as his brother Jay Kleiman, who was in town for a funeral, and their mother Nancy Kress Levin. The body of Frankie Kleiman was among those recovered June 28. Jay Kleiman and Levin were recovered July 5. A cousin of Jay and Frank Kleiman’s, Deborah Berezdivin, a rising junior at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and her boyfriend, Ilan Naibryf, were recovered July 7.

A post on Chabad.org states Frank and Jay Kleiman and their mother Nancy joined the Jewish community in Puerto Rico after the 1959 Communist revolution.

“A father of four, and known for being the joyful life of the party, Frank Kleiman had just launched Private Postal Systems after a career as a sales manager at Zesnah, a sports apparel brand,” the post reads.

HILDA NORIEGA, 92

Hilda Noriega (Courtesy of Sally Noriega via AP)

The body of North Bay Village Police Chief Carlos Noriega’s mother Hilda was recovered Tuesday.

In a statement from the family, they said, “The family would like to thank all the hundreds of first responders, who bravely and selflessly risked their lives to locate his mother and the other innocent victims to date.

“The Noriegas have lost the ‘heart and soul’ and ‘matriarch’ of their family, but will get through this time by embracing the unconditional love Hilda was known for.”

Hilda Noriega’s grandson, Mike Noriega, called her ‘vibrant’.

“She is the most vibrant, energetic person that I know. She lives for her faith, her family, her friends, definitely in that order. She’s crazy about her family, and very, very social, probably the most popular person that I know,” he said.

Mike Noriega said when they went to the site right after it happened, his father found a birthday card for Hilda in the rubble. He added that he’s dealing with the situation as best as he can.

MARCUS JOSEPH GUARA, 52
ANAELY RODRIGUEZ, 42
LUCIA GUARA, 11
EMMA GUARA, 4

The Guara family (Credit: AP)

The Guara family lived in No. 802. Marcus Guara was recovered Saturday, June 26. The rest of his family was recovered Wednesday, June 30.

Guara spent his childhood racing BMX bikes, The Miami Herald reported, and he “enjoyed being outdoors, attending family barbecues, and participating in lively conversations on the extended family group chat.”

Guara studied business at the University of Miami, where he was the captain of the rowing team.

At the time of his death, he was a regional sales manager for a New York-based bed and bath textile company.

Father Juan Sosa of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church told CBS 12 News the family was extremely involved in the church.

MICHAEL DAVID ALTMAN, 50

Michael Altman (Credit: Miami-Dade Police)

Michael Altman lived in No. 1101. Altman was an avid racquetball player, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Altman was born in Costa Rica, but moved to the U.S. with his parents when he was around 4 years old, his son Nicholas told The Miami Herald.

Nicholas called his father a “very loving guy. Always smiling. He was very fun and loved to tell jokes.”

Altman was an accountant who lived in Champlain Towers South building for more than six years.

GRACIELA CATTAROSSI, 48
ESTELLA CATTAROSSI, 7
GRACIELA CATTAROSSI, 86
GINO CATTAROSSI, 89
ANDREA CATTAROSSI, 56

Graciela and Estella Cattarossi

Argentine Graciela Cattarossi was a beloved mother and friend who worked as an independent photographer for hotels, magazines, banks and airlines from different parts of the world, said Kathryn Rooney Vera, a friend who had known Cattarossi since 2008.

The most important thing in her world, however, was her 7-year-old daughter Stella.

Cattarossi, 48, a single mother, lived in No. 501 with Stella and her own parents, Graciela and Gino Cattarossi. Her sister Andrea, a mother of three from Argentina, was visiting.

Gino and Graciela Cattarossi (via CNN Newsource)

Vera said Graciela Cattarossi was a dedicated mother whose devotion to her child was “unparalleled.” She also described her as a “very hard worker, a beautiful person and beloved by everyone.”

Cattarossi and Vera were exchanging text messages Wednesday night, just hours before the building collapsed.

Andrea Cattarossi

The photographer took professional photos of Vera’s fourth pregnancy years ago and presented them as a gift to celebrate what they believed would be Vera’s last child.

“She was happy to know that I was pregnant again,” said Vera. “We are devastated by what happened.”

Vera said that Graciela Cattarossi lived in Miami for decades.

BONNIE EPSTEIN, 56
DAVID EPSTEIN, 58

David and Bonnie Epstein (via CBS Miami)

David and Bonnie Epstein lived in No. 901 with their dog Chase, said Bonnie’s cousin Joey Feldman.

David was a retired successful real estate investor who loved to jet ski and kite surf. The couple has a son who lives in New York.

Feldman said the family is very small.

“Bonnie was like my sister growing up,” said Feldman, who lives in Los Angeles. “She took me to my first concert.”

 

INGRID AINSWORTH, 66
TZVI AINSWORTH, 68

Tzvi and Itty Ainsworth (Credit: Dina Feiglin/Facebook via AP)

Tzvi and Ingrid “Itty” Ainsworth were celebrating the birth of two new grandchildren. Their son in South Africa recently had a baby and their son in Florida had a baby just days ago, their niece Chana Harrel told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The couple, who are in their 60s, lived in Australia for nearly two decades before returning to South Florida to be near their children. The couple had seven children and many live in South Florida, including their daughter just blocks away, she said.

“Every person she encountered, ever in her life, became her friend. Everyone was treated as equals,” Chana Wasserman wrote in a Mother’s Day blog post to her mother Itty last year. “The guy at the laundromat, the guy working at the fruit market … ”

Ingrid struggled with chronic pain issues, but didn’t let that darken her mood. She tried to focus on the positive, a sunny day, a long car ride that would seem tedious to many she reframed as a chance to talk and catch up, he daughter wrote.

“I know I will never be able to match my mother’s pure enthusiasm for life but it’s inspiring to watch,” Wasserman wrote.

Itty’s mother, a Holocaust survivor living in Miami Beach, is battling cancer and doesn’t know about the tragedy.

“They didn’t tell her. She’s not well,” Harrel. said. “It’s absolutely horrific.”

DR. GARY COHEN, 58
DR. BRAD COHEN, 51

Drs. Gary and Brad Cohen (Credit: CBS42/Tuscaloosa)

Brothers Brad and Gary Cohen were both medical doctors who were active in their local communities. Brad Cohen was married to Soriya Cohen. She spent hours outside the condo building, showing pictures of the siblings on her phone to anyone who will listen, desperate for updates in the days following the collapse.

Both were recovered July 7.

Dr. Brad Cohen, who lived in No. 1110, was a popular orthopedic surgeon who specialized in sports medicine. A woman who answered the phone at his office said, with sadness in her voice, that his patients adored him. He did his residency at the State University of Stony Brook in New York and a fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, according to his website.

His brother, Dr. Gary Cohen, was a physician at Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center in Alabama, and was also active in his local synagogue there. He was visiting his brother at the time of the collapse.

“He spent many years providing care to our Veterans. He is part of the Tuscaloosa VAMC family and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family during this incredibly difficult time,” according to a statement from John Merkle, director of the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center.

RICHARD “RICKY” ROVIROSA, 60
MARIA TERESA ROVIROSA, 58

Maria Theresa and Ricky Rovirosa (Credit: Carolina Rovirosa Marrelli/Facebook)

Maria Teresa and Ricky Rovirosa of No. 312 were a “perfect match” who supported each other and others, according to longtime friend Monika Mucarsel Gressier.

Maria Teresa’s body was recovered July 7 while Richard was recovered July 10.

The couple had two grown children they raised in their South Miami home, and used their Surfside condo as a part-time summer getaway. Gressier was living in California when she met Maria Theresa, whom she called Maituca, through work.

“We became instant friends,” Gressier said in a text message. “She was one reason that gave me security and support for accepting a relocation to live in Miami. Maituca became my family support and always gave me and others the resources and guidance to navigate through the city of Miami.”

Gressier described Ricky as charming and his wife as “stunningly beautiful” inside and out.

“When I think of them, I think of one of my favorite memories of the times I watched them dance salsa and how loving they were always to each other,” Gressier wrote.

ILAN NAIBRYF, 21
DEBORAH BEREZDIVIN, 21

Ilan Naibryf and Deborah Berezdivin (Credit: Ilan Naibryf/Instagram)

Ilan Naibryf was an active member of the Jewish community at the University of Chicago since arriving at the school three years ago, said Rabbi Yossi Brackman of the school’s Rohr Chabad.

Naibryf, who just finished his junior year, served as the president of the Chabad House’s student board for the past year. He and his girlfriend, Deborah Berezdivin, were in Florida to attend a funeral of a friend who had died of COVID-19, his parents told CNN.

“He is a really great guy, very friendly, always has a smile on his face and is just a really all-around well-liked person,” Brackman said.

The University of Chicago sent a message to students upon learning of Ilan’s recovery, saying, “Ilan was a scholar, entrepreneur and admired campus leader. The second person in his family to attend the College, he was a physics major with a minor in molecular engineering and was active within the campus community. He also was co-founder and CEO of STIX Financial, a 2021 College New Venture Challenge finalist, served as president of the Chabad House student board, was a former member of the men’s track and field team, and was active in recreational soccer. He will be greatly missed.”

Deborah was described by college friends from George Washington University as “warm, kind hearted, bubbly and always positive,” according to The Miami Herald.

“She always brings out the best in her friends,” the message posted on GW’s Hillel Instagram page reads. “Deborah is the type of person that would do anything for her loved ones and will always tell you what is right.”

Deborah was a youth leader in Puerto Rico’s tight-knit Jewish community. She was “very committed to the educational mission of the movement, something she learned from her family,” said Diego Mendelbaum, the religious leader and community director of the Jewish Community Center of Puerto Rico/Shaare Zedeck synagogue.

DR. RUSLAN MANASHIROV, 36
NICOLE DAWN DORAN-MANASHIROV, 43

Ruslan Manashirov and Nicole Doran-Manashirov (Credit: CBS Pittsburgh)

Ruslan Manashirov and Nicole Dawn Doran-Manashirov were transplants to Florida, where they met, fell in love and got married last month in Fort Lauderdale in a sunny outdoor ceremony. They moved into No. 703, enthralled with the beachside view.

Ruslan was recovered July 7. Nicole was recovered July 9.

“They were so happy,” Valery Manashirova, brother of Dr. Ruslan Manashirov, told WABC-TV in New York. “It was a beautiful wedding and they were just starting their lives.”

The couple had to postpone their wedding date three times due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also affected their work as medical professionals.

Ruslan Manashirov was a neurologist and family doctor at ClareMedica of South Miami while Doran-Manashirov, who previously lived in South Park, Pennsylvania, was a physician assistant in the emergency department at Aventura Hospital in Aventura, a city near Surfside.

“She worked indescribable hours during the pandemic,” a family friend, Wendy Kays, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “She never backed out on her duties.”

Ruslan Manashirov grew up in Brooklyn, New York, to an Azerbaijani-Jewish family originally from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, according to Chabad.org, the Judaism site of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

He “just enveloped you with his personality,” Susan DeRisi, a friend of the couple, told the Post-Gazette. “He came into the group and it was like he belonged.”

NICOLE LANGESFELD, 26
LUIS SADOVNIC, 28

Nicole Langesfeld and Luis Sadovnic (Credit: Nicole Langesfeld/Facebook)

Nicole Langesfeld and her husband Luis Sadovnic were just starting their lives together after moving into No. 804 earlier this year after getting married five months ago, her brother Martin Langesfeld told The Associated Press.

Sadovnic proposed to Langesfeld on Dec. 24, 2020, on the beach in front of the building. The Jewish couple married one month later in a private civil ceremony because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Langesfeld was a commercial litigator whose family is from Argentina, but she was born in the U.S. Sadovnic was an entrepreneur from Venezuela. The apartment where they lived was owned by Sadovnic’s grandfather. They met when they studied at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Langesfeld was a bilingual associate in the Miami office of Reed Smith. She began to work as a summer associate in 2018 and one year later was hired as a full-time lawyer. Her practice focuses on litigating and settling insurance coverage on behalf of policyholders. She was a member of the University of Miami Business Law Review.

Nicky, as she is known to friends and family, loved animals. She had a guinea pig named Kali and two dogs, Capo and Zoey.

Sadovnic loved playing golf early on the weekend with his friends before joining Langesfeld on the beach, where they listened to reggaeton, laid out in the sun and swam in the ocean, said Noah Goldberg, a co-worker of Langesfeld. At night, they enjoyed going out to different restaurants and exploring.

ANA MORA, 70
JUAN ALBERTO MORA, 80

Juan Mora Sr., Ana Mora and Juan Mora Jr.

Juan Alberto Mora was among hundreds of Cuban exiles who signed up for a covert, CIA-funded operation to overthrow Fidel Castro’s Soviet-backed dictatorship 60 years ago.

Mora’s dream of restoring democracy in his homeland took him from military training at a Guatemalan jungle camp to the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, where he was captured and then crammed into a decrepit, rat-filled Cuban prison for 20 months, friends once imprisoned with him told The Associated Press.

Authorities on Friday identified the remains of 80-year-old Juan A. Mora, also known as Juanito. His wife, Ana, was also recovered. Their adult son, Juan Mora Jr., who worked in Chicago and had been staying with his parents in No. 1011, remains unaccounted for.

Mora Sr. was a much-liked figure in the Miami area Cuban-American community, once active in the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association and the Bay of Pigs Museum it houses, museum board member Humberto Lopez said. Mora was “always trying to help,” organizing events, writing editorials about the invasion and emailing with other members of the veterans group, Lopez recalled.

Ana Mora had worked as an assistant to the president of a prestigious Catholic high school in Miami, Belen Jesuit Prep, from which the couple’s son had graduated, said another family friend, Johnny Lopez de la Cruz, president of the museum and veteran’s association.

Mora Jr. was a manager for Morton Salt’s road salt business in Chicago, according to a close friend there, Matthew Kaade, who graduated with him from Loyola University in Chicago in 2011.

Lopez de la Cruz said Mora Sr. also had two daughters from a prior marriage. Another friend, Humberto Diaz Arguelles, said Mora’s first wife died of cancer.

CASSONDRA BILLEDEAU-STRATTON, 40

Cassondra Billedeau-Stratton (Credit: cassondranyc/Instagram)

Cassondra Billedeau-Stratton worked as an actress, model, and Pilates instructor, bringing “a vivacious love of life to everything she does,” her husband said in a statement.

“Cassie is a wife, mother and true friend to so many,” said Michael Stratton, a Democratic political strategist from Colorado. He told Denver’s KMGH-TV that he and his wife spent much of their time during the coronavirus pandemic in No. 412, the condo they owned for years at Champlain South.

Billedeau-Stratton loved walking and biking along the beach, her sister, Stephanie Fonte, told the New York Times. When the sisters were together, she often would make them pose for photos on the beach or near a burst of flowers.

Michael Stratton said he and his wife were talking on the phone when the building collapsed.

“She described that the building was shaking and then … the phone went dead,” he said.

“Cassondra (Cassie) Stratton was identified Sunday [July 11]. Her husband, Mike, and family again thank everyone who prayed for Cassie over the past two weeks and reiterated their eternal gratitude to the rescue workers whose courage and determination was unmatched. Mike and Cassie’s family respectfully request privacy as they mourn and prepare for her memorial service,” the family said in a statement Monday.

CATALINA GOMEZ RAMIREZ, 45
LUIS FERNANDO BARTH, 51
VALERIA BARTH, 14

Luis Fernando Barth, 51, the director of a nonprofit organization; his wife Catalina Gómez, a 45-year-old lawyer; and their daughter Valeria Barth, 14. (Credit:

Luis Fernando Barth, 51, the director of a nonprofit organization; his wife Catalina Gómez Ramirez, a 45-year-old lawyer; and their daughter Valeria Barth, 14, were from the western Colombia city of Medellín. They were renting No. 204 and were not supposed to be there. They had traveled to another beach location and planned to return to the rental the day the building collapsed. Catalina and Luis were recovered July 10. Valeria was recovered July 11.

The family had flown from Colombia to Miami for vacation and COVID-19 vaccinations, which are hard to come by in Colombia.

Sergio Barth said his older brother was like a father to him.

“I lost my father 20 years ago,” he said.

“Ah, I’m really sad,” Barth told WLRN Radio. “I just want to say thanks to him for everything he did for me, for my mom.

“He took care of me when my father died. And he was a figura paterna — a father figure for me.”

ARNOLD NOTKIN, 87
MARIA NOTKIN, 81

Myriam Caspi Notkin and Arnold “Arnie” Notkin

Myriam Caspi Notkin, 81, and her husband, Arnold “Arnie” Notkin, 87, married about 20 years ago after losing their spouses, according to a family friend.

The couple lived in No. 302. Both were recovered July 9.

“They were a happy couple. We’re hoping for a miracle,” said Fortuna Smukler, a North Miami Beach commissioner who grew up with Myriam Notkin’s three daughters. When they ran into each other as adults, Notkin always recalled her friendship with Smukler’s mother, who died 40 years ago.

“Every time Myriam would see me, she always had to make a point of saying how wonderful my mother was,” Smukler said. “She was very thoughtful.”

Smukler also knew Arnie Notkin dating back to his days as a physical education teacher and coach at Leroy D. Fienberg Elementary School in South Beach in the 1960s. He had an engaging personality and always had a story to tell.

“He had students who became famous, and he had to tell me about them, how they were good or mischievous,” she said.

ANASTASIA GROMOVA, 24
MICHELLE ANNA PAZOS, 23
MIGUEL PAZOS, 55

Michelle Pazos (left) and Anastasia Gromova (Credit: Sergiy Gromov via AP)

Anastasia Gromova was one of the last to be identified. The young Canadian had just been accepted to a program teaching English in Japan and was visiting the condo for one last hurrah with best friend Michelle Pazos, who was staying with her father Miguel in No. 412. Gromova’s body was recovered July 18. Michelle was recovered July 9, and Miguel on July 8.

Her grieving family rushed from Canada after the collapse and had spent weeks in agony waiting in Miami.

“It just makes it real and hard but on a different level. At least we can move on now.” her sister Anna Gromova told The Associated Press, describing her sister as a bright star that fell fast. “We will remember her forever.”

Her parents said she was bright, always on the go, constantly smiling and unafraid to take on difficult challenges.

“It’s hard because you knew the loss was preventable and still nothing was prevented,” her sister said.

“She always wanted to do as much as possible with her life. It seems like she knew that it was not going to last long,” said Sergiy Gromov, Gromova’s father.

Pazos told the CBC she’ll remember her daughter Michelle as a joyful person.

“Michelle was the sunshine of my life,” she said. “She was everything to me.”

Michelle’s Linkedin account shows she was fluent in English, Spanish, French and Arabic, and had volunteered in home construction in Mozambique.

LINDA MARCH, 58

Linda March (Courtesy of Rochelle Laufer)

Linda March just moved to Surfside from New York City. She worked as a lawyer and rented Penthouse 4 in the tower.

The Miami Herald reported March survived a bout with COVID-19 before moving to Surfside. She had lived in the Miami area before, according to her best friend, and couldn’t wait to return.

“She sent me pictures of the apartment. The place was beautiful, oceanfront, with beautiful views,” said Rochelle Laufer, who grew up with March in Brooklyn and has known her since second grade. “The one thing she complained about was the construction. It started at 8 in the morning and kept going all day.”

Laufer described March as “very bright and always smiling. She was sunshine-y.”

March was recovered July 5 and was one of the last to be identified.

Also recovered & identified:

Gonzalo Torre, 81
Maria Torre, 76
Andreas Giannitsopoulous, 21
Magaly Delgado, 80
Claudio Bonnefoy, 85
Maricoy Obias-Bonnefoy, 69
Francis Fernandez, 67
Simon Segal, 80
Elaine Lia Sabino, 71
Gloria Machado, 71
Oresme Gil Guerra, 60
Elena Chavez, 87
Elena Blasser, 64
Marina Restrepo Azen, 76
Harold “Harry” Rosenberg, 52
Benny Weisz, 31
Sophia López Moreira, 36
Luis Pettengill, 36
Luis Lopez Moreira III, 3
Alexia Maria Pettengill López Moreira, 9
Anna Sophia Pettengill López Moreira, 6
Leidy Luna Villalba, 23
Angela Velasquez, 60
Julio Cesar Velasquez, 66
Bhavna Patel, 36
Vishal Patel, 42
Alfredo Leone, 48
Lorenzo De Oliveria Leone, 5
Edgar Gonzalez, 45
Richard Augustine, 77
Maria Gabriela Camou Font, 64
Name withheld at family’s request, 5
Name withheld at family’s request, 44
Lisa Rosenberg Weisz, 27
Arnold Notkin, 87
Judith Spiegel, 65
Margarita Vasquez Bello, 68
Fabian Nunez, 57
Beatriz Rodriguez Guerra, 52
Andres Levine, 26
Moises Rodan Brief, 28
Aishani Gia Patel, 1
Mercedes Fuentes Urgelles, 61
Raymond Urgelles, 61
Mihai Radulescu, 82
Rosa Saez, 70
Miguel Leonardo Kaufman, 65
Maria Popa, 79
Theresa Velasquez, 36
Estelle Hedaya, 54

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