A hopeful family has received 16 calls from a land line belonging to their grandparents, who are among the 156 unaccounted for in the Surfside condo tower collapse, a Miami news station is reporting.
What You Need To Know
- The official death toll in the South Florida building collapse rose to nine on Sunday
- With more than 150 people still unaccounted for, the death toll could go much higher
- One family tells WPLG it has received 16 calls from a land line owned by their missing grandparents
Arnie and Myriam Notkin lived on the third floor in the south wing of the 12-story building that partially collapsed early Thursday morning. The cause of the collapse is still being investigated.
In the days since, their grandson, Jake Samuelson, said his mother has been receiving calls from the Notkins' land line phone that they kept next to their bed.
"We are trying to rationalize what is happening here. We are trying to get answers," Samuelson told WPLG in Miami.
Samuelson said he's now received 16 calls from his grandparent's number since Thursday, according to WPLG. The first call reportedly came at 9:50 p.m. ET Thursday, nearly 20 hours after the building crashed to the ground.
When Samuelson's family returned from the reunification center on Friday morning, it found 15 more calls from the Notkins' land line number on their caller ID, WPLG reported.
However, when someone answered, only static can be heard on the other line.
"We were all sitting there in the living room — my whole family, Diane, my mother," Samuelson said told WPLG. "We were just shocked, and we kind of thought nothing of it because we answered and it was static."
The family says it has not received any additional calls since Friday night.
Arnie Notkin, 87, is a physical education teacher and coach at several Miami Beach schools. His wife, 81-year-old Myriam, is a banker and real estate agent, according to the TV station.
The official death toll in the Surfside, Fla., building collapse rose to nine on Sunday after search-and-rescue teams recovered four additional bodies overnight. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirmed the new death toll in a news conference Sunday.
"As of today, one victim passed away in the hospital, and we've recovered eight more victims on site. So I am confirming today that the death toll is at nine," Cava told reporters.
Still, more than 150 people remain unaccounted for — and as rescue operations stretch into a fourth day, authorities and loved ones fear the death toll could go much higher.