The Miami-Dade Police Department announced Saturday afternoon that an additional victim in the tragic Surfside building collapse has been identified, bringing the total to 95 identified victims out of 97 people who have been confirmed dead.
Theresa Velasquez, 36, was identified Saturday after her remains were found in the rubble on July 8, authorities said.
A music executive at Live Nation in Los Angeles, Velasquez arrived in south Florida to visit her parents just hours before the 12-story Champlain Towers South building, where her parents lived on the third floor, suddenly collapsed on June 26, the Miami Herald reports.
The search and rescue effort transitioned to a recovery operation recently after officials determined that there was no longer any hope of finding survivors.
CONDO COLLAPSE FIRST RESPONDERS, VICTIMS’ FAMILIES VISITED BY COMFORT DOGS
“At this step in the recovery process it has become increasingly difficult to identify victims, and we are relying heavily on the work of the medical examiner’s office and the scientific, technical process of identifying human remains,” Miami-Dade County officials said in an update Friday.
“This work becomes more difficult with the passage of time although our teams are working as hard and as fast as they can.”
Only a few people are still considered missing, or “potentially unaccounted for,” according to officials.