SURFSIDE, Fla. — In some cases, multiple family members have reported the same relative missing to detectives attempting to hunt down information about those unaccounted for from the condominium building collapse in South Florida last week.
In other cases, family members have given both the Hebrew and English names of the missing, confusing detectives about whether they’re dealing with one or two people.
These are some of the obstacles investigators have encountered as they try to track down information about the 149 people who were unaccounted for, as of Tuesday evening, from the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building, said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“We’re getting this information from lots of different sources, and often not complete,” Levine Cava said. “It’s very important that we go through and cull the list.”
Detectives have been working around the clock tracking down leads about the missing from family members and friends, who sometimes provide incomplete information, the mayor said.
“We are sifting through all of this information to determine which of these reports are in fact new and which are duplicates, and this is a slow and methodical process,” Levine Cava said. “These numbers are very fluid and they continue to change.”
