SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - Officials have now confirmed that 16 people have died and more than 100 are unaccounted for following the partial collapse of a Surfside apartment building.
One woman among those unaccounted for recently moved to the building from New York.
Her condo made a mark in several viewers’ minds when they saw a bunkbed hanging from the side of the collapsed building.
The pink and white flowered sheet and pillow cases are remarkably still intact on the bottom bunk.
Linda March, 58, was identified by her friend Cindy Hinton as the owner of the apartment with the bunkbeds.
“My heart sunk,” Hinton said. “We just didn’t know what to do, like we felt so helpless.”
Many wondered if children lived in the unit, but Hinton said March rented it furnished and lived there alone.
When Hinton saw that the building had collapsed on the news, she quickly called her friend, but got no answer.
She then sent a text that read, “Just saw that a building collapsed in Surfside. I hope that wasn’t the condo where you are renting. Linda, please call me and let me know that you are OK. It’s your address and I’m now worried.”
“Every time I look at that picture, we try to look up diagrams and, you know, floor plans and what if she was in this room? What if she was in another room? There’s a possibility if she slept on the couch in the living room,” Hinton said. “We’re just all praying that maybe, by the luck of God, that she is in another room, that she somehow is somewhere else and not where the shaved-off part of the building is.”
Hinton has known March for over 40 years and refuses to give up hope.
“One thing we know about Linda is she is strong, and even though she’s only 104 pounds and she’s petite, she’s one of the strongest people I know, and I know she can feel our vibe that we’re pulling for her, ‘Come on, Linda. We know you can pull through this,'” Hinton said, “and so we keep the hope.”
Hinton said March moved to Surfside just three months before the collapse.
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