What We Know About The Victims Of The Champlain Towers Collapse

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A memorial near the Champlain Towers disaster site holds photos of missing persons in Surfside, Fla. Rescuers continue their search for survivors, but have confirmed that nine people are dead and more than 150 are still missing.





Gerald Herbert/AP



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Gerald Herbert/AP



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Gladys and Antonio Lozano

Mere hours before the building partially collapsed, Antonio, 83, and his wife Gladys, 79, were enjoying dinner with their son, Sergio. The couple lived in apartment 903 and could see Sergio’s tower apartment opposite their own.

The couple had known each other for more than 60 years, according to Miami’s Local10. They would have celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary next month.

Sergio told the station that peace might be found in knowing that the two «went together and went quickly.

Antonio and Gladys at one point in time joked that neither wanted the other to die first because they didn’t want to live without each other.

Manuel «Manny LaFont

A native of Houston, 54-year-old LaFont was in apartment 801. He was in the eighth-floor unit with another person also from Houston, who is believed to be a family friend of LaFont’s, Houston’s ABC13 reported. The identify of the second person is being withheld until the family is notified.

LaFont’s former wife, Adriana Lafont, said he was an adoring father of two. They had celebrated Father’s Day together just days earlier.

«I lived in that building for 10 years, she told the station. «My kids were born there. They learned how to swim in that pool. We had birthday parties, first communions, baptisms, so many memories.

Emma Bowman contributed to this story.