The bodies of 54 people have been recovered after an oceanfront condominium building suddenly buckled and collapsed on June 24, in Surfside, Florida.
As of Thursday, there were 86 people unaccounted for, as desperate families continued their vigil in the beachfront barrier island community.
Workers continued, in relentless 12-hour shifts, sifting through the rubble and listening for signs of life in the search for possible survivors. As the search for survivors continues, authorities have begun to release the identities of the deceased.
Those who've been identified are:
- Ingrid Ainsworth, 66
- Tzvi Ainsworth, 68
- Michael Davis Altman, 50
- Luis Bermudez, 26
- Claudio Bonnefoy, 85
- Maria Obias-Bonnefoy, 69
- Graciela Cattarossi, 48
- Magaly Elena Delgado, 80
- Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74
- Bonnie Epstein, 56
- David Epstein, 58
- Stacie Dawn Fang, 54
- Francis Fernandez, 67
- Emma Guara, 4
- Lucia Guara, 10
- Marcus Joseph Guara, 52
- Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21
- Frank Kleiman, 55
- Jay Kleiman, 52
- Nancy Kress Levin, 76
- Antonio Lozano, 83
- Gladys Lozano, 79
- Manuel "Manny" LaFont, 54
- Leon Oliwkowicz, 80
- Anna Ortiz, 46
- Hilda Noriega, 92
- Anaely Rodriguez, 42
- Gonzalo Torre, 81
- Gary Cohen
- Ruslan Manshirov, 36
- Maria Teresa Rovirosa, 58
- Luis Lopez Moreira III, 3
- Sophia Lopez Moreira, 36
- Luis Pettengill, 36
- Vishai Patel, 42
- Bhavna Patel, 36
- Deborah Berezdivin, 21
- Juan Alberto Mora, 80
This list will be updated as USA TODAY Network reporters share stories about those who died after the tower collapsed.
Gary Cohen
Dr. Gary Cohen wasn't a doctor who looked at his profession as just a job, those who knew him say. He truly cared about people.
Rabbi Yossi Friedman of the Chabad of Alabama in Birmingham said Gary Cohen was a devoted friend to him and almost everybody else he met.
"There's a big big hole in our life where he used to be," Friedman said Thursday. "He was one of these doctors who wasn't a doctor for a job. He cared about people."
Cohen and his orthopedic surgeon brother, Brad, were among those who lost their lives June 24 in the collapse. They were in Surfside to visit their parents, who had relocated to Florida. The visit focused on their father, who has a terminal illness.
Gary Cohen was a physiatrist, practicing at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Administration Medical Center, as well as other medical venues in Birmingham, Alabama, and living in nearby Mountain Brook, Alabama.
Cohen was married and had two sons, Jared and Seth.
Graciela, Gino, Graciela Maria and Stella Cattarossi
Four members of the Cattarossi family, spanning three generations, perished in the collapse.
Graciela Maria Cattarossi, 48, and her 7-year-old daughter Stella were identified last week. Graciela's parents, Graciela and Gino Cattarossi, 86 and 89, respectively, were identified Thursday. The family lived in Apartment 501 at Champlain Towers South.
Betty Matz Gelsky knew Graciela Maria Cattarossi for close to 18 years. She described her as someone who would do anything for her daughter, whether it was making sure she got into a good private school or buying all organic food.
It was widely reported that Stella's father is a firefighter who volunteered as part of the search and rescue crews.
Graciela Maria Cattarossi was a lifestyle photographer whose work has been published in Vanity Fair, the New York Times and Food and Wine Magazine.
Simon Segal
The engineer, called 'Simoncito' by his friends, owned a construction company and spoke several languages.
Simon Segal was known as a quick-witted, lifelong bachelor who was all about integrity in life, as well as his career in engineering.
The 80-year-old resident of Unit 1203 – the penthouse – at Champlain Tower South was confirmed as one of those who died in the building's collapse.
Segal was a professional engineer with specialties in highways and bridges, real estate development and construction, structural engineering, construction management and more.
His skills list ran from engineering to real estate and mortgage brokering. He was fluent in computer work and multilingual with fluency in Spanish and conversational in Portuguese, Italian and French.
"He was always at our dances," Segal's longtime friend Isaac Osin said. "He fitted in with everybody. He was studious and very smart. He was just a fun guy."
Bonnie and David Epstein
The couple planned to move into a penthouse condo in the same building.
Enjoying an early retirement in their second home, the Epsteins were a joyful couple who lived out their love for water sports, marine life and sunny days. Originally from Holland, Pennsylvania, the couple purchased their condo – unit 901 – in 2005. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, they had just signed the paperwork to upgrade to a penthouse unit in the same building.
David, 58 and Bonnie, 56, had recently celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary.
As funeral service preparations proceed, their son Jonathan requested that loved ones consider supporting the nonprofit Saving The Blue, a marine wildlife conservation group, in his parents' honor.
The group posted its own tribute to the couple on social media.
They would "show those around them what true love really looked like," the group said. "An unforgettable, extraordinary duo that was taken far too soon."
Read more about the Epsteins here.
Frankie Kleiman, Ana 'Annie' Ortiz-Kleiman and Luis Bermudez
Frankie and Annie had been married less than a month when they lost their lives in the collapse.
Newlyweds Frankie Kleiman, 55, and Ana 'Annie' Ortiz-Kleiman, 46, along with Ortiz-Kleiman’s son, Luis Bermudez, 26, lived in unit 702. They have been identified among the dead by Miami-Dade police, while Kleiman’s brother, Jay, and his mother, Nancy Kress Levin, who lived in 712, are missing.
Published reports and social media paint a picture of an intensely loving clan. Though Frankie and Annie had been together for about a decade, they only tied the knot May 28.
“I would never imagine that this would ever happen to my family,” Annie's sister Nicole said. "One thing they would want me to tell you is that even though it really, really hurts, I know that they are going to heaven. … I know that I will see them again.”
Tzvi and Ingrid 'Itty' Ainsworth
Originally from Australia, the couple is survived by seven children and two grandchildren.
Ingrid and Tzvi Ainsworth were full of life, those who knew them said. Witty. Friendly. Kind. Compassionate.
Rabbi Aryeh Citron, who leads a congregation in Surfside, knew Tzvi as someone who loved to talk and banter. The couple's daughter, Chana Wasserman, wrote in a blog post last year about how her mother was an inspiration, and a friend to everyone.
A funeral was held for the Ainsworths on Tuesday in New York.
Hilda Noriega
The mother of a South Florida police chief was the only person to be recovered Tuesday from the site of the Surfside towers collapse
Hilda Noriega, 92, was described as the "heart and soul" of her family. She lived in a condo at Chaplain Towers for more than 20 years, The New York Times reported, and she was planning to sell the condo and move in with her son and daughter-in-law.
She was the mother of Carlos Noriega, the police chief of North Bay Village, an island community about 4 miles southeast of Surfside.
"We want everyone to remember her for how she lived, not for how she died," her grandson, Mike Noriega, wrote in a public Instagram post on Wednesday. "Her heart was too big for her love not to leave a legacy that lives on to touch others."
His statement echoes one the family made through the North Bay Village government.
"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," the family stated.
Leon Oliwkowicz and Cristina Beatriz Elvira
The couple were among the first to be identified.
Leon Oliwkowicz and Cristina Beatriz Elvira were Venezuela natives who recently came to America, joining children they had already sent here, to escape the growing political and economic crisis in their home country.
In Surfside, the couple were part of a large Jewish community, and among more than a dozen members of the Shul of Bar Harbour who lived in the collapsed portion of Champlain Towers.
He was 80 and she was 74. They left behind four children and 11 grandchildren.
Marcus Guara
He was the kind of guy who snuck into the hospital to visit a friend despite COVID-19 limitations on visitors.
Marcus Guara, a 52-year-old Miami native, was known for being generous, genuine and was loved by everyone.
Guara was a salesman for a company that sold supplies to hotels and traveled often for work. He went to the University of Miami. He was active: running, hiking, surfing, swimming, scuba diving and rowing with the Miami Rowing Club of Key Biscayne.
His wife, Ana, and their daughters, 10-year-old Lucia and 4-year-old Emma, are still missing.
Michael Altman
He lived in apartment 1101 at Champlain Towers South.
Facebook posts suggest Michael Altman, 50, was an avid racquetball player and originally from Costa Rica. His sister said in a Facebook post that the discovery of his remains means that she and her family “finally have some peace.”
“Please keep my parents, Michael’s boys and my kids in your prayers,” Debbie Altman, who lives in Miami, asked friends.
His son, Nicholas Altman, posted a photograph on Facebook of his father after the building collapsed.
“This is my dad," he said, "who I love more than anything."
Stacie Dawn Fang
She was the first victim to be identified. Her 15-year-old son was pulled alive from the wreckage.
Stacie Fang, 54, was the vice president of Customer Relationship Management Conference, a company that produces an annual event in Chicago for customer relationship management retail and marketing executives. She had worked at the Surfside-based firm for 12 years.
A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Department told the New York Times that Fang had been pulled from the wreckage of the condo and taken to Aventura Hospital and Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead of blunt force trauma.
Fang's teen son is a sophomore, junior varsity baseball player at a local high school, according to Miami's WSVN. The boy was rescued by a man who was walking his dog near the building at the time of the collapse.
Antonio and Gladys Lozano
The couple would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary in July.
Antonio, 83, and Gladys, 79, lived in unit 903 in the South tower. The couple were among a group of older Cubans who lived in the condo complex.
Their son, Sergio Lozano, said if there's any solace in their deaths, it's in knowing the two “went together and went quickly.”
“I was told they were in bed together. That’s the end of the romantic story,” he said.
Sergio was able to have dinner with his parents just hours before the collapse Thursday morning. He lives in the Champlain Towers sister condo building nearby and could see his parents' place from his balcony.
The couple are survived by their sons, Sergio and Antonio Jr., grandson Brian and other family members.
Andreas Giannitsopoulos
The 21-year-old college student from Houston was visiting his godfather in Surfside
Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21, was about to begin his senior year at Vanderbilt University. He was from Houston.
Andreas was staying with his godfather Manuel "Manny" LaFont, his father's best friend, whose body was also found in the rubble.
"My brother was honestly like my other half. He was my best friend as well as my older brother, so he always protected me and he was always there for me no matter what," Athanasia Giannitsopoulos told The Tennessean. "He was the most selfless person I have ever met in my life."
In the days after the building collapse, Athanasia said those who have reached out with support and condolences have only shared messages that confirm such qualities her brother embodied.
"I knew he was a good person, but the way people describe him ... He was an angel," she said.
Manuel ‘Manny’ LaFont
The father of two said he wanted his life to mean something.
Manuel LaFont, 54, once told a reporter, "When I die, I want to say that my life meant something. I want to help people. I want to do something good in this world."
LaFont grew up in Houston before moving to South Florida. He owned condo unit 801 and was hailed as a devoted father, a coach and a business consultant, according to the Miami Herald.
LaFont's ex-wife said on social media she had picked up their two children, Mia, 13, and Santi, 10, at Champlain Towers only hours before the collapse.
According to the Miami Herald, Manny LaFont could often be found on the baseball diamond, playing with his son, whose team – The Astros at North Shore Park – he coached. Together, they shared a passion for the game. He told Adriana he planned to take Santi fishing soon.
LaFont worked at Lindsay Transportation Solutions, where he led a roadway safety division. He also was a parishioner at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach.
Related coverage
►Here are links to some of our recent stories about this tragedy.
►How to help victims of Surfside devastation, things to know
►'It would take a miracle': Victims' families, survivors lose hope as rescue efforts stall
►Collapsed Miami condo had been sinking into Earth as early as the 1990s, researchers say
►New Jersey family lives to tell of harrowing escape from collapsing condo building
►Inspection reports for detail 'major structural damage' over garage