The suffering of the relatives of the only victim of the Miami collapse who still does not show up: “There is nothing left, it’s over” | the Chronicle

Estelle Hedaya, the 54-year-old New Yorker is the only victim still untraceable after the collapse of the Champlain Tours South, in Miami, June 24. The building is already almost flat. The ruins are more and more clear, the firefighters declared on Friday the end of the search for the body and the woman is still not showing up. Her family and friends have fallen into despair and are on the verge of losing their illusion.

It took almost a month of work to remove the layers of stacked debris, which were sent to a depot. Although forensic scientists continue to work on examining the ruins, there is no longer a body where the building once stood. “They are going to close the support center for relatives. There is nothing left, it’s over “, regrets Lisa shrem, Estelle’s best friend, speaking to the Washington Post.

And add: “They’ve dug to the ground already, and the feeling is, ‘This is where we come to.’ There is nothing worse than that “. IkeyEstelle’s younger brother provided DNA samples and visited the site twice to see the rescue work for himself. So far nothing has worked.

“Now that we are entering the second month alone, without any other family, we feel helpless.”he told The Associated Press. With the exception of the first hours after the accident, no survivors emerged. Search teams spent weeks working amid the rubble, amid the sweltering heat and typical Florida storms, but found only the ruins. The collapse left 97 people dead and Estelle Hedaya is the only one who continues to be described as missing.

They examined more than 13,000 tonnes of crumbling concrete and rebar, working stone by stone, before declaring the work complete. The Miami-Dade fire department search and rescue team withdrew from the scene on Friday in a convoy of fire trucks and other vehicles. There was a press conference during which the end of the search was officially announced. During the ceremony, the fire chief Alan cominsky He praised the rescuers who were working 12 hour shifts and camping on the scene.

Who was Estelle Hedaya?

Those who knew Estelle Hedaya say that she was an outgoing woman, who loved to travel and chat with strangers. She is 54 years old, she is from new York and she had moved to Miami six years ago to work at the Continental Buying Group jewelry company, where she was COO and, according to her, made the dream of her life come true.

She is victim number 98 and is still missing. I had a blog called Follow the toes where he recounted his relationships, his travels and his daily life. There she describes herself as a “The New Yorker sweeping Miami.”

“It has been a long journey, but I am grateful for each of the experiences that have made me the woman that I am. I have really evolved and in many ways. I had told the universe that I wanted to live in Miami, and here I am, living my dream “, wrote.