‘She was 92 going on 62.’ North Bay Village police chief’s mom missing in Surfside collapse
Mike Noriega described his grandmother as “youthful” and “healthy.”
“She was 92 going on 62,” Noriega said Saturday night near the site where the Champlain Towers South collapsed several nights before in Surfside. “She was very youthful. She was young at heart.”
Hilda Noriega, the mother of North Bay Village Police Chief Carlos Noriega, is among those who are missing after the Surfside condominium collapse. Noreiga also was the police chief in Miami Beach.
The mother and grandmother lived in apartment 602.
On Saturday night, police identified the remains of three other victims pulled from the rubble in the Surfside condo collapse, bringing the total bodies recovered by police to five. More than 150 are still unaccounted for, authorities say.
“As first responders continue to lead the search and rescue efforts, we ask that our community join us in prayer and in respecting Chief Noriega and his family’s privacy at this moment,” the village said in a Facebook post Saturday. “We are thankful for the first responders who are working around the clock in rescue efforts.”
Noriega has lived in the building for more than 20 years. She recently listed her two-bedroom, two-bath “beautiful beachfront” apartment for sale, according to a real estate website.
Mike Noriega said the last time he spoke to his grandmother was Wednesday night.
“I never imagined this could happen in my wildest dreams or nightmares, but I think its important for people to have hope, even if they are here at the site staring at this huge pile of rubble,” he said.
After hearing about the collapse, Chief Noriega headed to the site in hopes of finding his mother.
Sally Noriega, the chief’s wife, told the New York Times that while there, her husband stepped on a card with his mother’s name on it.
“My mind tells me there is no way she could have survived such a massive collapse, but I believe in a God that can do anything,” Sally Noriega told the Times. “Is it silly to believe she is still alive? Probably. But I am never going to give up hope.”
Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.
