Surfside Condo Collapse ‘Voice Of The Rubble’ Victim Identified

The woman whose voice could be heard for hours under the rubble of the Surfside condominium collapse last June has been identified as Theresa Velasquez. 

Velasquez was a 36-year-old Live Nation music executive visiting her parents in apartment 304 when the collapse happened. They were among the 98 people killed when the Champlain Tours South building collapsed.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department released an 11-page memo last night identifying the voice they heard for several hours after the collapse as that of Velasquez. Deputy Fire Chief Raied Jadallah wrote the report as an answer to a December USA Today story naming the voice in the rubble as a 14-year-old who also died.

“This report documents the actions taken and the testimonial and physical evidence gathered leading to identifying the female voice under the rubble as that of Theresa Velasquez,” Jadallah wrote. 

Lark-Marie Anton, a spokeswoman for Gannett, who owns USA Today, said in a statement that they are reviewing the memo. “The facts and the sourcing in our story are clear,” she added. “We have no additional comment at this time.”

The memo also revealed more details about rescue efforts at the site. It was revealed that rescue workers never had a whole conversation with the woman trapped under the rubble. It’s not clear if anyone ever asked her to identify herself. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokeswoman Erika Benitez said communications were brief. 

Jadallah wrote that it was only possible for crew members to hear the woman when all operations ceased. “Even the faintest whisper from the rescue crews or sloshing in the standing water negated any ability to hear the woman,” the memo read.

“They stayed on until they no longer heard the voice anymore… I think it was one of the things that was most upsetting to them,” Benitez said. “They never gave up on this person despite the conditions being so precarious.”

Velasquez’s remains were identified on July 17. Jadallah wrote that he informed her brother, David Velasquez, of his findings in December. David Velasquez told CBS Miami that he trusts the information in the report. 

“There is no way to know 100 percent, but it seems like the logical conclusion,” he said.