On Tuesday morning, families gathered for a Lighting of the Torch Ceremony at Veterans Park at 1:22 a.m., the time condo fell.  

Deven Gonzalez said she was in her condo, on the 9th floor, when the building collapsed. She described the floor falling away. Gonzalez is one of three survivors that made it out alive, her father, Edgar Gonzalez, did not. She said she's still dealing with her own trauma and the unimaginable grief.

"I'm just glad that I can take a moment just to, one deal with my own trauma, but also be able to mourn the loss of my parent along with everybody else mourning the loss of their relatives. Not a lot of people can relate to what we are going through and these are one of the few moments and nights where finally someone can kind of understand when losing a relative to such a big, tragic, event that should have never happened," she said.

Ahead a remembrance ceremony later in the morning, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said a memorial to honor those who died is coming.  

"We've been working diligently with the families to get a memorial right here. There is a design right now, it sort of languished for the last few years, but its back in force now and it's going to be done. We're going to have shovels in the ground in the very near future," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said. 

Burkett said while he appreciates that there's a national agency doing the research into why the building collapsed, four years later they still don't have any definitive answers. He said the town had hired a pre-eminent expert on building collapses to look into it, and expressed frustration that neither the town nor the expert were allowed access to the site. 

Martin Langesfeld, the brother of 26-year-old Nicole Langesfeld who died in the collapse, said the land where the condo once stood was sold to a developer before he could have a proper burial for her. 

DAMAC Properties, a Dubai-based developer, purchased the site for $120 million. Langesfeld said they have not been cooperative when it comes to putting a memorial there.

"For years we've tried to work with DAMAC to incorporate a memorial on the site but to date there is zero collaboration on making this happen. There are ways to respectfully honor the lives lost without stopping the new development," he said.  

At the remembrance ceremony, Burkett said it feels like a family reunion.

"That's what this is. This is a loving, respectful, time for us to come together to remember and celebrate the lives of those 98 people who we cared about, who we lived with and who we now miss," he said.

Pablo Langsfeld told the gathering that he spent Father's Day with his daughter Nicole and her husband, days before the collapse.

"I didn't know it was going to be the last time I will ever see my daughter," he said.

Father's Day was also the last day Keven Spiegel spent with his wife Judith.

"I spent it with my family in the apartment, playing with my grandchild, Scarlet. Judy made our family lunch and dinner. The next day, I was able to fly to California to work in a hospital in Watsonville, California. Every night we talked, Judy gave me an update what Scarlett did for the day. Wednesday night was the last time we talked," he told the gathering.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the names of those who died were read to the crowd. 

The night of the Surfside collapse

On Thursday, June 24, 2021, at 1:22 a.m., Champlain Towers South, once located at 8777 Collins Avenue in the Town of Surfside, partially collapsed.

The 12-story condominium building had 136 units, and 55 were involved in the collapse. Firefighters used truck-mounted ladders to reach people trapped on balconies and pulled 35 people out of the building.

In the early hours of the rescue mission, officials reported that only one person had died and 10 others were injured as fire rescue and technical rescue teams from Miami-Dade and Broward counties responded, cutting off utilities from the site as life-saving efforts continued.

Amid the chaos, a family reunification center was set up down the street for everyone looking for unaccounted and missing relatives. Collins Avenue was also closed off as first responders continued efforts to find and save lives. Soon after, additional road closures were made.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava signed an emergency order to open the door for federal assistance to further help the rescue missions at the collapse site, shortly after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency. At a press conference earlier that day, President Biden addressed the collapse, saying he was ready to provide federal assistance as soon as DeSantis declared the state of emergency.

As that tragic Thursday came to a close, officials said at least one person was confirmed dead and 99 other people were unaccounted for as rescues continued. When Friday came, those numbers changed for the worse.

The days following the Champlain Towers South collapse

On Friday morning, Cava said the death toll had risen to four people and 159 people were unaccounted for.

Additionally, officials identified the first victim of the collapse: Stacie Dawn Fang, 54, who was the mother of the 16-year-old boy who survived. Authorities said Fang was pulled out from the rubble and transported to Aventura Hospital, where she died from her injuries a couple of hours later.

On Saturday, Cava addressed the public again to say that rescue teams will continue working around the clock until everyone is found.

"Our top priority continues to be search and rescue. We continue to have hope," she said. "We are continuing to search, we are looking for people alive in the rubble that is our priority, and our teams have not stopped hour after hour."

Despite the positive outlook, the numbers changed again to five confirmed deaths and 156 people unaccounted for as the search continued into Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday, those numbers changed to nine deaths and 152 unaccounted for. Cava announced that Miami-Dade Police had identified four additional victims: Leon Oliwkowicz, 80; Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74; Luis Andres Bermudez, 26; and, Anna Ortiz, 46.

Later on Sunday, the City of Miami Beach also declared of state of emergency to ensure its eligibility for reimbursement of emergency-related expenditures as it was in close proximity to Surfside. Officials also announced that day the creation of a centralized alert system, which provided updates and access to resources to families and people who were displaced by the collapse.

As the search for survivors continued, memorial walls popped up across Surfside, paying tribute to those who had died and those who were still missing. Out of respect for those impacted by the collapse, Miami Beach and North Bay Village canceled their Fourth of July events. The body of Hilda Noriega, 92, who was the mother of North Bay Village Police Chief Carlos Noriega, was one of the victims recovered from the collapse.

Nearly a week after the collapse and brief stop on search and rescue operations, officials announced that the death had doubled to 18, including two children. At the time, then-Tropical Storm Elsa was moving through the Caribbean, causing concerns among many Florida officials, including DeSantis, who reassured people that the state's Division of Emergency Management would continue working on contingency plans for potential tropical weather impacts.

On that day, Biden arrived in South Florida and delivered remarks after meeting with loved ones impacted, saying that he remained optimistic about the search and rescue missions.

The next day, the death toll rose to 22, and 126 people remained unaccounted for. Following the announcement, Cava signed an executive order to demolish the rest of the unstable structure. Eleven days after the condo collapsed, the remaining part of Champlain Towers South was demolished.

On July 5, 2021, the death toll rose to 28 and the number of people unaccounted for was 117.

After another eight victims were found the following day, the death toll rose to 36. Later that afternoon, Cava said authorities had shifted their operations from search and rescue to search and recovery as the death toll climbed to 54 deaths with 33 of those victims identified. One day later, the death toll grew by an additional 10 victims, now claiming the lives of 64 people.

By day 16 of the recovery mission, the death toll grew to 79 people and 61 remained unaccounted for. At that time, 53 victims were identified by authorities.

On July 10, 2021, the death toll rose to 86 people, 62 of them were identified by officials, and an additional 43 were still unaccounted for. The next day, those numbers changed to 90 deaths, 71 victims identified — including three children — and 31 people unaccounted for.

More grim news came out two days later as the death toll rose again to 94, with 83 of those victims identified. The weather at the time impacted recovery efforts throughout the days as rescue officials worked tirelessly to continue finding everyone. The day after, officials announced another victim was found and the death toll grew to 95 people and 85 of the victims were identified.

Victims were still being identified a month into the Surfside collapse

As crews neared the end of the search nearly three weeks after the collapse, 97 victims had been recovered and 8 people were potentially unaccounted for. Another prominent victim found in the rubble was Theresa Velasquez, 36, who was a Los Angeles-based executive at Live Nation, who was visiting her parents Julio, 67, and Angela, 60. They also died in the collapse.

Nearly a month after the collapse, the 96th and 97th victims were identified as Anastasiya Gromova, 24, and Linda March, 58.

On July 26, 2021 — over a month after the collapse — the last victim was identified by officials. Estelle Hedaya, 54, had finally been found when she was removed from the rubble. Her brother Ikey, who lives in New York, told CBS News Miami that New York City Police officers came to his home to inform him about his sister.

Nearly a year after the collapse, a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue review memo stated that first responders did everything they could to rescue everyone despite not having the necessary equipment to save some of them, such as Velasquez, whose voice was allegedly heard in the rubble before crews were able to find her.

One by one: all the victims of the Surfside condo collapse

Ninety-eight lives were lost on June 24, 2021:

1. Stacie Dawn Fang, 54
2. Antonio Lozano, 83
3. Gladys Lozano, 79
4. Manuel LaFont, 54
5. Luis Bermudez, 26
6. Marcus Joseph Guara, 52
7. Leon Oliwkowicz, 80
8. Ana Ortiz, 46
9. Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74
10. Michael David Altman, 50
11. Frank Kleiman, 55
12. Hilda Noriega, 92
13. Magaly Elena Delgado, 80
14. Bonnie Epstein, 56
15. Andreas Giannitsopoulos, 21
16. Emma Guara, 4
17. Lucia Guara, 11
18. Anaely Rodriguez, 42
19. Claudio Bonnefoy, 85
20. Maria Obias-Bonnefoy, 69
21. Graciela Cattarossi, 48
22. David Epstein, 58
23. N/A, 7 (At the family's request)
24. Gonzalo Torre, 81
25. Ingrid Ainsworth, 66
26. Tzvi Ainsworth, 68
27. Elena Blasser, 64
28. Andrea Cattarossi, 56
29. Francis Fernandez, 67
30. Jay Kleiman, 52
31. Nancy Kress Levin, 76
32. Linda March, 58
33. Richard Augustine, 77
34. Graciela Cattarossi, 86
35. Gino Cattarossi, 89
36. Elena Chavez, 87
37. Aishani Gia Patel, 1
38. Bhavna Patel, 36
39. Vishai Patel, 42
40. Elaine Lia Sabino, 71
41. Simon Segal, 80
42. Marina Restrepo Azen, 76
43. Deborah Berezdivin, 21
44. Brad Cohen, 51
45. Gary Cohen, 58
46. Nicole Langesfeld, 26
47. Gloria Machado, 71
48. Ruslan Manashirov, 36
49. Ana Mora, 70
50. Juan Alberto Mora, 80
51. Juan Alberto Mora Jr., 32
52. Ilan Naibryf, 21
53. Alexia Maria Pettengill Lopez Moreira, 9
54. Anna Sophia Pettengill Lopez Moreira, 6
55. Luis Vicente Pettengill Lopez Moreira III, 3
56. Luis Pettengill, 36
57. Harold Rosenberg, 52
58. Maria Teresa Rovirosa, 58
59. Luis Sadovnic, 28
60. Leidy Vanessa Luna Villalba, 23
61. Maria Gabriela Camou, 64
62. Edgar Gonzalez, 42
63. Beatriz Rodriguez Guerra, 52
64. Oresme Gil Guerra, 60
65. Alfredo Leone, 48
66. Lorenzo De Oliveira Leone, 5
67. Sophia Lopez Moreira, 36
68. Fabian Nunez, 57
69. Miguel Pazos, 55
70. Richard Rovirosa, 60
71. Maria Torre, 76
72. Angela Velasquez, 60
73. Theresa Velasquez, 36
74. Benny Weisz, 31
75. N/A, 5 (At the family's request)
76. N/A, 44 (At the family's request)
77. Nicole Dawn Doran, 43
78. Miguel Leonardo Kaufman, 65
79. Arnold Notkin, 87
80. Maria Notkin, 81
81. Michelle Anna Pazos, 23
82. Maria Popa, 79
83. Mihai Radulescu, 82
84. Lisa Rosenberg, 27
85. Judith Spiegel, 65
86. Julio Cesar Velasquez, 66
87. Margarita Vasquez Bello, 68
88. Catalina Gomez Ramirez, 45
89. Rosa Saez, 70
90. Cassie Billedeau Stratton, 40
91. Luis F. Barth Tobar, 51
92. Valeria Barth, 14
93. Moises Rodan Brief, 28
94. Andres Levine, 26
95. Mercedes Fuentes Urgelles, 61
96. Raymond Urgelles, 61
97. Anastasiya Gromova, 24
98. Estelle Hedaya, 47

Remembering the Surfside condo collapse victims

On Dec. 12, 2021, divers at Neptune Memorial Reef installed a memorial plaque on Sunday afternoon to honor the 98 victims.

At his first special commission meeting in March 2022, then-mayor Shlomo Danzinger worked on making a permanent memorial for the victims a priority during his term at an event marking the one-year commemoration of the tragedy. That memorial was presented to the public on May 12, 2022.

At the commemoration event to mark one year since the tragedy, first lady Jill Biden visited Surfside to pay her respects to the victims' families and survivors of the collapse while she was touring a federally qualified health center in Palm Beach County as part of the Biden administration's "Cancer Moonshot" initiative.

On Aug. 4, 2022, Surfside renamed a portion of Collins Avenue as 98 Points of Light Way in a special tribute to the 98 lives lost.

Families seek justice for the 98 victims

As the community sought answers for why the condo collapsed and the death toll climbed, several lawsuits were filed by victims' families, including criminal and civil investigations, with legal fees and costs estimated to reach $100 million.

"The whole world wants to know what happened here," Mayor Cava said at the time. Everyone, she said, wants to know "what could have been prevented and how we make sure it never happens again."

On July 14, 2021, a judge approved the sale of the property where the condo stood to compensate the victims' families.

"This is obviously a case where there is no amount of money that could possibly be available to compensate these families for their suffering and their loss," said Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman. "Well, there's no amount of money in the world that could do that."

Though many said a memorial to the victims should be built on the land, Hanzman said the sale would benefit their families instead and that their memorial could be built at a nearby park. At one point, there was discussion that even a community center would be built upon the site. Despite hours of heated debate and protest, Surfside commissioners approved a controversial plan to build a 52-unit luxury condominium on the collapse site.

One of the lawsuits was filed by Enrique Arango, a Miami firefighter whose 7-year-old daughter died in the collapse, who sued the Champlain Towers South condo association and a slew of other defendants for her wrongful death. In the filing, Arango's representatives claimed that the defendants were so reckless or wanting in care that it constituted a "conscious disregard or indifference to the life, safety, and rights of persons."

At a hearing on the future site of the collapse, Hanzman was informed that there was an interested buyer in the property. Michael Faye, who had been appointed to work on the real estate deal, was instructed by the judge to negotiate the sale of the land, which an unknown company reportedly wanted to spend between $110 and $120 million.

On Sept. 30, 2021, Hanzman approved the $120 million sale agreement of the site to East Oceanside Development while it was still on the auction block. The collapse site officially hit the auction block on May 24, 2022. The collapse site was officially sold to the Dubai-based developer DAMAC Properties for that $120 million price tag.

On Sept. 1, 2021, another hearing announced that $49 million would be split amongst the victims and their families as they continued to discuss the future of the collapse site. In March 2022, the victims' families agreed to a $55 million tentative settlement.

In the midst of 2021's legal hearings, four people were arrested and charged for allegedly stealing the identities of victims of the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside.

On Oct. 6, 2021, Hanzman ruled that a mediator would be assigned to go through the claims from the collapse, who was expected to help reach an agreement on the distribution of money from the planned sale of the condo site. Later that month, Hanzman pushed for compromise on potential payouts to victims and their families, urging all involved parties to continue talking out how to best honor the 98 killed.

While the families' compensation was still being determined in court, Hanzman ruled that those who owned units at the condo will divide $83 million for property losses. That settlement eventually bumped up to $96 million.

On Nov. 17, 2021, victims and their families filed another lawsuit that claimed the construction of the adjacent Eighty Seven Park tower damaged and destabilized the Champlain Towers South building, leading to its collapse.

By the end of 2021, Hanzman announced that the various lawsuits filed on behalf of the victims and their families will likely go to trial in summer 2022, saying that the time frame would be either July or August.

"I'm not granting extensions or continuances. Not in this case," he said. "Come next summer, we're going to be picking a jury in this case. It's not going to go beyond that."

One of those lawsuits went to trial in March 2023.

On May 11, 2022, a $997 million settlement was reached in a class-action lawsuit over the collapse, where all the money was determined to be divided among victims' families and survivors. However, attorney Stuart Grossman who was part of the negotiations, said it will never undo the loss of lives from the tragic event.

"This money is meant to compensate parents, children, husbands, and wives who lost loved ones in this disaster," he said at the time. "For their mental grief, for their mental pain, and suffering and it isn't probably not even going to be enough to do that."

The total settlement eventually bumped up to about $1.02 billion. That settlement was approved on June 23, 2022 — one day before the one-year mark of the tragedy.

Later on, another $2 million from an insurance settlement went to the survivors and victims' families.

Why did Champlain Towers South in Surfside collapse?

On Monday, the National Institute of Standards and Technology's National Construction Safety Team (NIST) has released a 90-minute video update on its investigation into the June 2021 partial collapse.

Investigation leads Judith Mitrani-Reiser and Glenn Bell outlined progress, preliminary findings and collapse hypotheses in the video.

Higher-likelihood hypotheses

Mitrani-Reiser said the team has identified several design and construction issues that weakened the building, including understrength structural design and misplaced steel reinforcement in the pool deck, which had low safety margins.

Bell noted heavy planters, added sand, pavers and corrosion of steel reinforcement further diminished the pool deck's strength, making its failure a higher-likelihood scenario.

The team also considered tower-related issues, such as water-damaged basement columns or a slab-beam-column joint failure, as plausible causes, Bell said.

The team found no evidence of karst voids or pile failure beneath the building, Mitrani-Reiser said, citing satellite data showing no ground settling and tests confirming adequate pile strength.

Bell also described the separation of the pool deck from the south basement wall as a lower-likelihood scenario.

The team expects to complete its report in 2026, Bell said.  

Florida lawmakers take action

About two weeks after the collapse, Florida House Representative Paul Renner said at the time that lawmakers didn't need to make immediate changes to state building codes. However, he did point to the Champlain Towers South condo association's inability to quickly address the safety and structural repairs that were needed before the collapse.

"If we need to strengthen that and make that clear, we can certainly do that," Renner said.

On July 7, 2021, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced that a grand jury would dive into ways to prevent future disasters like the Champlain Towers South collapse, pointing out how the SAO sought grand juries to look into building code issues that rose after Hurricane Andrew swept through in 1992.

"As a community, we remain shaken and horrified by the immense loss of life and the sheer destruction caused by the collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium building," she said in a prepared statement.

On Dec. 15, 2021, the grand jury released its report, detailing four key findings that showed steps that should have been taken in a timely manner to make sure the building was structurally sound, including revising the Florida Condominium Act.

Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister Nicole and his brother-in-law in the collapse, testified in front of the Florida Senate on Nov. 30, 2021, against a bill that would lower the amount of time to file lawsuits over building defects. A few months after testifying, he and his son ran in the Miami Marathon in honor of his sister and her husband.

"Senate Bill 736 is proposing the opposite of what needs to be done after such an unimaginable event," he said at the time.

The bill died in returning messages on March 14, 2022.

Another bill (HB 7069) was passed by the Florida Legislature in February 2022, which would lead to new inspection requirements for condos, including that buildings with three stories or higher must receive initial inspections 30 years after occupancy with the threshold at 25 years for buildings within three miles of coastlines. A year later, DeSantis signed a new bill that revised the 2022 law, which would now require buildings to go through reviews every 10 years after initial inspections.

At the start of 2022, the Florida Senate Community Affairs Committee unanimously backed a measure that was designed to strengthen the long-term health of buildings following the prior year's collapse. A month later, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved a new law that required condo and homeowner associations to make financial statements and structural safety reports public.

In April 2022, Florida congressional Democrats called on DeSantis to put condominium reform on the 2022 Legislative Session agenda. South Florida Democratic leaders even joined forces with the victims' families to call upon state lawmakers to make sure it gets on the agenda.

DeSantis received criticism for not doing enough during the session, especially when a bill that would have sweeping reforms died when State Rep. Danny Perez and State Sen. Jennifer Bradley could work out differences in their respective bills.

In May 2022, Florida Senate Bill 4D was signed into law, which requires structural inspections and more money to be set aside to make potential repairs on condos with the goal to make buildings safer. However, some argued that the law came at a cost, meaning that some people, especially retirees who live on fixed incomes, would have trouble affording their homes.

In June 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that revised condominium-safety requirements.

Under the 2022 law, inspections are required for buildings that have been occupied for 30 years - or 25 years if the buildings are within three miles of a coastline. After initial inspections, the buildings have to go through the process every 10 years.

The revision allowed buildings within three miles of the coastline to be inspected after they have been occupied for 30 years. It also allowed local officials to require the inspections after 25 years of occupancy depending on "local circumstances, including environmental conditions such as proximity to salt water."

Also, local officials were given the ability to extend inspection deadlines if building owners have entered into contracts with architects or engineers but the inspections could not be finished in time.

In April 2025, the Florida Legislature signed off on more proposed changes to condominium-safety laws.

Sen. Jennifer Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican who has shepherded the condo-safety issue in the Senate, said this year's plan takes into consideration input from dozens of condo-association meetings and thousands of residents.

The measure would extend by one year the deadline for structural-integrity studies, which currently must be completed by Dec. 31 and which Bradley said many condo associations are "struggling to meet."

The measure also addresses a variety of other issues, including condominium-association managers and management companies.

In addition, it gives local officials until Oct. 1 to report to the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation certain information about milestone inspections, including the number of buildings that were inspected and a list of buildings that have been deemed unsafe or uninhabitable.

The bill also requires design professionals, such as architects and engineers, as well as contractors who bid on milestone inspections and structural-integrity studies to disclose if they intend to bid on related maintenance, repair or replacement work.

The bill also says the milestone inspections and structural-reserve studies apply to buildings that have three or more habitable stories. Current law requires the buildings to have three stories or more.

The proposal also allows for a temporary pause in reserve funding for two years immediately following a milestone inspection and give condo associations "critical flexibility" on meeting reserve requirements, Bradley said. The bill would allow associations to use lines of credit or loans to satisfy reserve obligations, if a majority of owners approve.  

On June 23, 2025, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on the changes which will take effect July 1.

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett addressed those at the gathering. He said on this day, three years ago, he received a call that changed all their lives.

"As Charles Dickens once wrote in his classic book 'A Tale of Two Cities,' it was the best of times and the worst of times. Clearly, we all know too well why it was the worst of times and will never forget the pain and devastation that our families, friends and neighbors were subjected to, much of which remains with us today," said Burkett. 

"However, in the blackness and near hopelessness that we all felt in those early days and weeks, something unexpected emerged: an unbreakable bond between those who endured those dark days together. A bond not unlike that which men in war talk about when they return from the battlefield," he said. "The survivors, their family, their friends and those who worked about the clock to support them also understand this bond very well."  

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said, "Today is a day that we especially have our memories come front and center, even though they are with us every single day. We all know where we were on June 24th, 2021 in the wee hours of the morning and this is truly etched in my heart forever. Three years ago today our worlds changed forever and these years have gone by either too slowly or too quickly, or a little bit of both. But the pain remains the same. The pain is timeless."

Earlier Monday morning, a moment of silence was held at 1:22 a.m. which marked the time the condo abruptly collapsed, killing 98 people. 

"It brings me back to the night that it happened," said Mike Noriega, who rushed to the building that night in 2021. His grandmother lived on the 6th floor, and her balcony was still visible in the rubble when he arrived.

"If you've ever had a dream that just felt so real that you had to convince yourself that it was not real, it was the opposite process for this," he said. "I had to convince myself that it was real because I was thinking things like, 'There's no way this building just collapsed. Was this an earthquake in the middle of the night in Miami? Was this a planned demolition and my grandmother, she just somehow forgot to tell us and we didn't have notice and she's safe somewhere?'" 

"They helped raise me, as much as my own parents did," he said. "And so to fathom that this woman that was truly the matriarch of our family was underneath there, that was almost impossible to accept."

Pablo Langesfield said with every passing milestone he sees in other people's lives the pain gets worse. His 26-year-old daughter Nicole Langesfield was in the building with her new husband at the time.

"It's very hard for me, and I'm sure for many other families, to see an empty lot," he said. "It's also very hurtful to see all the friends having families and kids and getting married. My daughter's life was cut short at 26 years old."

For weeks after the collapse first responders worked tirelessly searching through the rubble for survivors and the remains of those who died.

Rabbi Yossi Harling, a chaplain with the Miami-Dade police department, said it was unlike any other tragedy he's helped with. With a shooting tragedy, he said, families start picking up the pieces a day later. With the collapse, families came back day after day — some for 30 days straight — asking if their loved ones had been found in the rubble.

"While many across our nation continue their lives as usual, our community is reminded of the pain of losing loved ones to an unprecedented and tragic incident that Surfside will never forget," said Rep. Frederica Wilson in a statement. "In 2021, the condominium collapse claimed 98 lives, and although time passes, the void left in the hearts of countless families and friends remains. June 24, 2021, is a day forever etched in the minds and souls of the entire Surfside community. However, that incident also demonstrated to the world the strength and resilience of our community as we came together. I'm proud to represent Surfside and to see the strength of Surfside firsthand." 

Three years later, the families are still searching for answers as to why the building crumbled. An investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology is currently underway. Investigators have focused on the pool deck, which is strongly believed to be the starting point of the Surfside collapse.

The federal agency in charge of figuring out the cause of the collapse just wrapped up its detailed update on its nearly three-year search for what happened on June 24, 2021.

Thursday's meeting focused on design defects in construction and a lack of meeting safety standards, not just the ones currently in place, but those in effect back in 1979 when Champlain Towers was first being built.  

Investigators said that it is clear that the design of the pool deck and tower did not meet strength and other requirements of that time, leading to what we saw happen more than 40 years later.

"We have very, we think, conclusive evidence now that the pool deck collapsed before the tower did in a gross manner," said Glenn Bell, Team Associate Lead, Champlain Towers South NCST NIST.

Investigators have long focused on the pool deck, which is strongly believed to be the starting point of the Surfside collapse.

But the question remains: Why did it collapse?

"Several columns have moderate strength deficiencies and design strength does not comply with the original codes and standards," added Fahim Sadek, Project Leader, Champlain Towers South NCST NIST.

To answer that question, investigators are looking at everything. This includes the columns, concrete mixtures, corrosion, the building's foundation, and the effects of vibrations from construction from neighboring buildings.

"Hundreds of possible failure initiation points in the structural and geotechnical elements," added Bell.

It was narrowed down to about two dozen failure hypotheses, with one of the most likely scenarios being the pool deck slab-column connections.

"Protection the concrete provides rebar is compromised by cracking... resulting in corrosion," said Scott Jones, another project leader for NCST NIST, pointing out a history of water leaking into the garage and around the pool.

Investigators also believe the columns along the south edge of the tower are another likely initiation point for the collapse. Still, everything they have discovered and reported so far is subject to change as this investigation progresses.

"The whole goal from this investigation is to learn from it and bring about improvement in codes and changes in practice to minimize the chance that a disaster like this terrible tragedy could happen again," said Bell. 

CBS News Miami also learned more about the timing of the collapse.

The pool deck collapsed more than four minutes before the building, but that does not mean the collapse started there. Investigators repeatedly repeated that they had not ruled out the possibility that something in the towers had initiated the collapse.  

Click here to see the Cross-Project Panel Theme 1: Timeline and Evidence Collection. 
Click here to see the Cross-Project Panel Theme 2: Timeline and Evidence Collection.
Click here to see the Cross-Project Panel Theme 3: Timeline and Evidence Collection.

Part of the plan calls for moving the dumpster pick-up and loading site to the southwest corner of Collins Avenue..   

"That's the final vote right now," said Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danziger, who voted for the plan.      

Damac International, the developer behind the new plan, offered to reduce the use of the loading dock on 88th Street and move the trash collection to the basement. 

But even after six hours of contentious conversation and passage of the measure, relatives of the victims said the developer's plan was not enough.  

"We requested that they bring forward a plan, they need to bring forward that plan to FDOT for approval," Danzinger said.  

The decision stemmed from a motion by commissioner Fred Landsman who proposed relocation of the garbage pickup and loading area for the new building on Collins Avenue, completely away from 88th Street.

Under that proposal, Landsman voted yes along with the mayor and Vice Mayor Jeffrey Rose while commissioners Marianne Meischeid and Nelly Vasquez, who had several confrontations with the mayor during discussion, voted no. .  

"It's disappointing, it's painful," said Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister and brother-in-law and feels the considerations for the family have been ignored. 

"88th Street is not part of that development, we're not stopping that development from coming," he said. "But why keep hurting us?Trash smells. Trash on top of a memorial -- where is the respect?" .    

According to those opposed to the current plan, previous commissioners decided to reserve 88th Street as a memorial to honor the lives lost and those affected by the building's collapse on June 24, 2021

They say the current commission was overlooking the legal resolution and attempting to provide the developer with over 40 percent of 88th Street to place their trash trucks and loading docks right above the memorial.

On Wednesday night, representatives from the developer presented a revised plan reducing the use of the loading dock on 88th Street and moving the trash collection to the basement.

However, the victims' families said they still have concerns about the placement of the loading dock, which would include garbage and recycling trucks, on the same street where a memorial for the victims is scheduled to be built.

"The trash is still being collected on the corner of 88th Street and the loading dock is still 20, 30, I don't know what exact percent of 88th Street, it doesn't matter if they keep shifting it, it's still on 88th street," said Miami Martin Langesfeld, who lost his sister and brother in law in the June 2021 collapse. "It needs to be completely moved off to Collins Avenue, just like the building next door."

Besides Langesfeld, relatives, neighbors, and friends of the victims had three minutes to state why they were against the location of the loading dock of the new 12 story condo Damac Properties plans to build adjacent to 88th Street, where the memorial is scheduled to be installed.

The debate turned contentious.

The mayor asked a resident who allegedly made a hand gesture toward him, to be escorted out by officers. Another resident was also kicked from the meeting but later allowed back.

The residents reiterated that 88th Street belongs to the town and not the county and urged the commission to be on their side about allowing it to be only used for the memorial and emergency vehicles.

In the end, Surfside commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the condo's site plan with certain conditions. Part of that includes moving the dumpster pick-up and loading site to the southwest corner of Collins Ave. 

"The divisiveness surrounding this submission is unfortunate. We believe the conditional approval of the site plan establishes a new way forward towards better collaboration between all stakeholders. This significant milestone represents a step forward in bringing the vision of DAMAC to the wonderful city of Miami," said Niall Mc Loughlin, DAMAC International Senior Vice President of Communications in a statement. 

The investigation led by the National Institute of Standards & Technology is looking into two dozen different scenarios that could explain why the 12-story Champlain Towers South abruptly failed early in the morning of June 24, 2021, they said. Surfside is a suburb north of Miami.

"We're still not prepared to close the door on any of them yet," said Glenn Bell, associate team lead of the Champlain Towers probe. "We are still testing, testing, testing."

Bell told a meeting of NIST's National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee on Thursday that most of the intensive work on such things as concrete core samples, corrosion in reinforcing bars and evidence of subpar construction in the 40-year-old building will be done by next spring, followed by a final report and recommendations by June 2025.

"We are driving hard now to complete this investigation by the fourth anniversary of the collapse. This investigation is one of the most complex and challenging of its type ever undertaken," he said.

Much attention has focused on the pool deck, which investigators previously said failed to comply with the original building codes and standards, with many areas of severe strength deficiency that likely contributed to the disaster. Officials said Thursday the pool area remains a central focus, along with the garage beneath it.

"The interaction of the pool deck and the tower is really important in the progression of the collapse," Bell said.

There also were studies done on the ground underneath the building to determine whether sinkholes, underground voids or soil irregularities might have played a role. Investigators have not found evidence that was a factor.

Judith Mitrani-Reiser, the Champlain Towers investigative team lead, said 24 computer hard drives have been recovered that might have video or other evidence that could help explain what happened. Photos were shown at Thursday's meeting of a seventh-floor unit where a video camera on a table captured some debris falling from above before the building collapsed.

That kind of evidence is invaluable, she said.

"The information from the public has been just an amazing asset to our investigation," Mitrani-Reiser said. "A different angle would really be tremendous. We are really at the mercy of what we can find."

Meanwhile, at the site in Surfside, Dubai-based DAMAC International, plans to construct a building with 57 units ranging in size from 4,000 to 9,000 square feet (360 to 810 square meters). The luxury building would include a business center, event space and two pools, according to plans submitted to Surfside.

A judge last June approved a settlement topping $1 billion for victims of the Champlain Towers South collapse, one of the worst building failures in U.S. history.

The money comes from 37 different sources, including insurance companies, engineering firms and a luxury condominium whose recent construction next door is suspected of contributing to structural damage of Champlain Towers South. None of the parties admit any wrongdoing.

Plans are also still in the works for a permanent memorial to the victims.

The event took place at 10 a.m. at Veterans Park on Collins Avenue, directly across from the collapse site and included a host of dignitaries, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

During the event, one of the speakers said the pain from the loss of a loved one comes in waves.

"I talk about it a lot of times (and) it brings a lot of sadness," said Ivonne Lafont Villagra, who said she cherishes the moments she had of her younger brother, Manny Laftont, who died during the collapse. "He joked all the time (and) played jokes on all of us. He was a good soul (who) had many many friends."

The tower fell to the ground during the overnight hours, leaving a heap of tangled metal and concrete.

The collapse spurred several changes to local and state laws in an effort to boost inspection of buildings and prevent a future similar tragedy.

It "left a huge mark on the victims' families, left a huge hole in this community and it really wounded the state of Florida," DeSantis said during his remarks. 

Said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava: "May this beautiful and remarkable community continue to heal and may all those who suffered loss that day continue to find peace and may we forever be Surfside strong." 

At 1:22 a.m. Saturday, the moment two years ago when the building fell, a torch was lit to remember the victims as relatives and first responders gathered while names of the victims were read.

Two years ago, as hundreds of people were in their homes, the Champlain Towers South abruptly collapsed, killing 98 people.

Michael Noriega's grandmother was one of those victims.

"It feels very surreal because it feels like yesterday this happened. I mean, I remember being on the street right there on Collins Avenue,staring at the rubble trying to comprehend how my grandmother was underneath her pulverized balcony we were staring at," said Noriega.

Hilda Noriega was 92 years old when she died, she was the oldest victim killed in the collapse.

Noriega describes his grandmother as a "God-fearing woman" and what was found on her body by first responders, and returned to her family just solidified her unwavering faith.

"It was like a sacred holy moment of what could they have found on her and it revealed six rosaries," said Noriega.

For Noriega, the grief that followed the loss of his beloved grandmother was at times unbearable, but through his pain, he found purpose and a community that stands behind him. 

"When you have a community of people to bring unity to carry you in. A time you can't carry yourself I can't explain into words how powerful that is," said Noriega.

Saturday night, Mike and other members of the community came together on the beach in front of where the Champlain Towers once stood — sharing their faith and love following this tremendous tragedy.

"It's solemn but it's also a birthplace of hope," said attendee Milena Robinson. 

Loved ones and neighbors joined together on the beach to light 98 lanterns, one for each of the victims.

Two years later, the heartbreak remains, but through the cracks of these broken hearts — faith flourishes.

MIAMI - Saturday marks two years since the Champlain Towers South collapsed in Surfside, killing 98 people.

Now, their families are fighting to keep their memory alive.

Martin Langesfeld lost his sister Nikki and her husband Luis.

"It's hard to think of them as memories now. You know she was 26 years old when she passed. She was my older sister. And her husband became my older brother. Just beautiful, hard-working people, they met in college, ready to start their lives together. She was an attorney, who, since she was four years old knew she wanted to be an attorney and fight for justice to the end," said Langesfeld.

Now Langesfild has joined that fight for justice.

He and the other families of the victims are demanding answers as to what happened here two years ago. They also want a memorial on the site where the condo collapsed. 

Langesfeld said they simply want respect from the developer and the Town of Surfside to honor their loved ones.

A remembrance event will be held on Saturday, June 24 at 10 a.m.

The event will take place on the green lawn at Veterans Park located at 8750 Collins Avenue, directly across from the site of the former building.

Organizers said family members, survivors, local Elected Officials and community members will be on hand for the second consecutive year to pay their respects to all those affected.

"June 24, 2021 marked a devastating tragedy that profoundly impacted countless lives. From the grieving families who lost their loved ones that fateful night to the individuals whose lives were forever altered, the effects were far-reaching. Our Remembrance Ceremony serves as a poignant occasion to honor and cherish the memory of those we have lost and acknowledge the profound impact on all those affected. It also presents an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable display of compassion and assistance demonstrated by numerous individuals during this challenging time, highlighting the innate kindness and unity that resides within us as human beings," said Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger.

In addition to the 10 a.m. event, there will be a symbolic lighting of the torch at 1:22 a.m. and an exhibition display featuring items from the Wall of Hope Memorial from 9 a.m. to noon.

"We're 90% sure the geological conditions did not contribute to the collapse of Champlain South," said Surfside's hired forensic engineer Allyn Kilsheimer.

He updated the town on his findings, believing the ground was not a root cause of the collapse. His investigation, though, reveals problems with the original design of the building more than 40 years ago.

"We also know there were design mistakes in those drawings based on the building code the building was designed for in the first place," Kilsheimer said.

Town leaders tell us the same group that designed Champlain Towers South was also responsible for several other condo buildings in Surfside, including Champlain Towers North.

A resident that moved in six months ago spoke to CBS4 on Wednesday. David says he was told a recent inspection of that building was done to ensure it was safe.

"When we moved into the building showing the diagrams that everything is supposed to be good," shared David. "We moved in thinking everything was fine. We believe everything is fine."

He believes the work Surfside's doing to find answers to how Champlain Towers South collapsed on June 24th, 2021, claiming 98 souls, is vital for all in South Florida.

"We should be aware and do our best to avoid structural problems in the future," added David.

Finding answers drives the town to continue its investigation to provide families and residents closure.

"And also how to prevent it from happening to any other building along our coast or any of our coastlines," said Surfside commissioner Fred Landsman.

Landsman spoke with CBS4 outside Town Hall on Wednesday. He explains the next steps for Kilshemier's investigation.

"He needs to do the testing on the materials from the ground level up to determine if the materials," said Landsman. "The way the construction was put together and the plan itself was or was not correct. It's likely to end up being two or three things that contributed to this."

Landsman shared two barriers to finishing the town's independent investigation. One is access to the materials on and off-site. Kilsheimer is working with the federal organization NIST in charge of the primary investigation to gain access.

The other hurdle is funding. Landsman says the town has spent nearly three million financing its independent investigation. The commission hopes for outside help from the community if another round of funding is needed.

On Tuesday night, they approved an additional 575 thousand dollars with the stipulation Kilsheimer is guaranteed the access.

Landsman tells CBS4 that NIST will likely finish its investigation by 2025.

The town wants to continue its investigation to provide answers sooner rather than later to the victims' families and residents.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said in a brief ruling that the 2022 tax payments should not be deducted from the $96 million previously earmarked to compensate owners of the 136 units of Champlain Towers South. The building collapsed June 24, 2021, killing 98 people.

Hanzman said the taxes should not be paid by the owners. Instead, the taxes - a little under $800,000 combined, county officials say - should be paid from excess funds available from the $120 million sale of the land formerly occupied by the 12-story building.

The issue arose after the court-appointed receiver in the case, attorney Michael Goldberg, told unit owners in a letter they would be liable for the taxes just as if their condos had been sold. The judge's order came just after the Miami Herald published a story Monday about the unresolved tax matter.

Oren Cytrynbaum, whose family owned two units in the building, said he was grateful the judge dealt with the issue quickly so owners would be spared further expense - even if it was a few thousand dollars each.

"Every dollar counts for the victims. It's still a struggle," Cytrynbaum said in an interview. "Everybody wants to move on and go to the next chapter. I think we're getting there."

Champlain Towers property taxes for 2021 were waived last year by the state Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis. But until Hanzman's ruling, there was no effort to forgive the 2022 tax bills.

The judge said that Goldberg, as the receiver, "has had actual possession of the property throughout 2022" rather than the unit owners. The tax amounts vary based on a unit's size and where it was located.

The judge in June approved a $1 billion fund for people who lost family members in the collapse, as well as those who suffered physical or mental injuries. The $96 million is for loss of property, including the condo units themselves.

The money comes from 37 different sources, including insurance companies, engineering firms and a luxury condominium whose recent construction next door is suspected of contributing to structural damage of Champlain Towers South. None of the parties admit any wrongdoing.

A billionaire developer from Dubai is purchasing the 1.8-acre (1-hectare) beachside site for $120 million, contributing to the settlement.

Hanzman has been conducting a series of hearings on individual claims by collapse victims about the amount of compensation for a family member's death, which he recently described as harrowing.

"It's a brutal process," the judge said. "I just don't want to cause these families any more stress."

Champlain Towers South had a long history of maintenance problems and questions have been raised about the quality of its original construction and inspections in the early 1980s. Other possible factors include sea level rise caused by climate change and damage caused by salt water intrusion.

A final conclusion on the cause is likely years away. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is overseeing the investigation.

It was for the unveiling of 98 Points of Light Way on Collins Avenue. Director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, Freddy Ramirez reflected on its significance.

"Remembering the grandparents, parents the children that we lost on that day, the 98 souls that were lost and remembering the bravery and the hard work for the first responders, the police, the social workers, the victim advocates that all converged here as one. So, to bring closure for the families and the struggle continues," said Ramirez. 

Surfside's mayor says the marker will ensure that long after a new building goes up, everybody who passes by will always remember what happened there.

Mayor Shlomo Danzinger said the need for condo safety reform is urgent.

"For all that is done in the wake of this collapse, fighting for condo safety reform, pushing these bills through and the changes we've seen here today. This ensures that hopefully a tragedy like this never happens again," said Mayor Danzinger. 

"Every single member of the Florida house of representatives co-sponsored this legislation. Just so everybody knows, there is a full commitment from Tallahassee and statewide to support not only the condo reform but to make sure we commemorate the loss of lives," said Rep. Michael Grieco of District 113. 

"May the 98 souls rest in peace, may the families find strength," said officials during the emotional ceremony, turning a knob to extinguish the flame burning symbolically for the victims of the Champlain Tower collapse.

It was lit on June 27, and it was extinguished July 20th, which marked the 27th day. It went out at 8:09, which is when they pull out the last soul.

Estelle Hadaya was that 98th and final victim recovered from the collapse. Everyone from first responders to town officials were out to pay their respects to everyone who lost their lives. Even former Champlain Towers South owners were in attendance to show their support.

"It was basically praying for all the families that lost their loved ones and all our friends I lost on my floor. And I want to show my respect for everyone who was here and thank the first responders who did all the effort the best they could," said Champlain Towers South owner Randy Rose.

Town officials say the flames may be out but their efforts to heal and investigation what caused the tower to collapse continues.

The first, which aired on October 20, 2021, was called "Bonded by Tragedy: 30 Days In Surfside."

It tells the story of the anguish and anger felt by the families of those killed in as they waited for news about the fate of their loved ones, and the strain on the men and women whose job it was to keep them informed.

Bonded By Tragedy focuses on the efforts Assistant Miami Dade Fire Chief Ray Jadallah, Miami Dade Firefighter Maggie Castro, and Miami Dade Police Commander Stephanie Stoiloff as they met twice a day, every day with the families to brief them on what was initially a search for survivors but became the grim task of recovery their remains.

"There's no script for this," Jadallah said. "That's why it made it so difficult, so different. And even if there was a script, you wouldn't be able to follow it."

Set inside the room where the majority of family briefings took place, the film uses both never before seen videos recorded by family members inside the briefings and new interviews conducted in the weeks after the last victim was identified.

The second documentary premiered on June 22, 2022, and was called "Surviving Surfside: Deven's Story," which told the little-known tale of 15-year-old Deven Gonzalez and her mother, Angela, who were thrown from their ninth story condo when the building split open.

Falling more than five stories onto the debris pile, the two women recount those fateful moments that also claimed the life of Deven's father, Edgar.

For the first time, the firefighters who found Deven and Angela tell the story of their rescue and how Deven actually saved her mother's life.

CBS Miami has followed Deven and Angela's recovery since the collapse, as Deven attempts to overcome her injuries and once again become a competitive volleyball player.

The third special, aired on June 23, 2022, on the eve of the first anniversary of the collapse.

"Surviving Surfside: Year One," was an in-depth look at how families who lost loved ones have coped with the most devastating moment in their lives.

CBS Miami spent months meeting with families, developing their trust and ultimately presenting their stories in ways no had done before.  

After the tragedy,  98 people died in the collapse. Among them, Staci Fang.

Fang's brother was in town for the memorial. He stopped and wrote on her marker. 

"Love you sis, miss you.'"

His nephew survived the collapse. 

Jonah Handler, the miracle boy, was pulled from the rubble, 

"It's a hard event.  A lot of emotion," said Fang. 

"Certainly, it keeps their memory alive, It's all we can do."

Anna Velasquez paused at the memorial for her brother, sister-in-law and niece who were also killed. 

"Every day, I think of them. They were always there for me."

Her niece, music executive Theresa Velasquez was in town to visit her parents.  She arrived early. 

Miami-Dade fire rescue has identified Theresa Velasquez as the voice in the rubble. The faint voice heard, but one they were unable to reach. 

"For reasons only God knows."