Two loving fathers identified as victims
NICHOLAS ALTMAN TOLD THE MIAMI HERALD THAT HIS FATHER WAS A ‘VERY LOVING GUY. ALWAYS SMILING. HE WAS VERY FUN AND LOVED TO TELL JOKES.’
More bodies were found in the remains of the Champlain Towers condo, which collapsed Thursday, have been identified, including a father of two whose wife and daughters are still missing.
Identified on Monday was the body of Marcus Joseph Guara, 52. Still missing are Guara’s wife, Anaely Rodriguez, 42, and their daughters, Lucia, 11, and Emma, 4. The family lived on the eighth floor.
The body of Michael David Altman, 50, and father to two college-age sons, was also identified.
By late Tuesday, a total of 12 people had died in the collapse, although that number is expected to rise. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Tuesday evening at a press conference that 149 people remain unaccounted for and 125 were accounted for, and added that detectives were auditing the numbers to remove possible duplicates.
‘A VERY LOVING GUY’
Michael David Altman was born in Costa Rica but moved to the United States with his parents when he was around 4 years old, his son Nicholas said.
Nicholas Altman, 23, lives in Boca Raton with his brother, Jeffrey, 22. They are both college students.
Nicholas told the Miami Herald on Tuesday that his father was a “very loving guy. Always smiling. He was very fun and loved to tell jokes.”
Michael Altman was an accountant who lived in the 1101 unit of the Champlain Towers South building for more than six years. The condo unit has been in the family since the 1980s, Nicholas said. He was a dual citizen of the United States and Costa Rica, his son said.
“He was a warm man. He conquered a lot of obstacles in his life and always came out on top,” Nicholas said. “He always inspired my brother and I to be successful in life.”
Michael is also survived by his parents, Anita and Alan Altman, who are both in their 70s, Nicholas said.
“He was a great father, and a great son to my grandparents,” Nicholas said.
‘HE LOVED LIFE’
Throughout his days racing BMX bikes as a kid at the now-closed Boystown BMX track in South Dade, attending Christopher Columbus High School, rowing at the University of Miami and working in the South Florida hospitality industry, Marcus Joseph Guara, 52, remained close to many friends and his family.
He enjoyed being outdoors, attending family barbecues, and participating in lively conversations on the extended family group chat. He was competitive, said Guara’s cousin Peter Milián, but he was always willing to help others out.
Guara studied business at the University of Miami, where he was the captain of the rowing team and won many competitions, Milián said.
Later, he worked as a regional sales manager for New York-based bed and bath textile company Kassatex. The company’s founder and CEO Ernesto Khoudari said Guara was an “amazing asset to the team.”
“From the moment he started working with us, his creativity, vivacity for the business, charming smile, and never-give-up attitude fueled his passion for our company, and his relationships he made along the way,” Khoudari said in a statement.
For several years, Guara and his family had been attending St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church, just three blocks from their condo building. On Sunday, in front of a crowd of about 70 parishioners, Father Juan Sosa listed the names of church members who were reported by friends and family as missing in the collapse, including Guara, during a particularly somber Mass.
Guara’s oldest daughter, Lucia, made her First Communion at the church in 2019. His youngest, Emma, was baptized there in 2016. Along with his
wife, Anaely, they are still missing.
Milián said Guara’s family, including his brother Manuel Guara and his sister Annette GuaraHurst, are devastated by the loss.
“He was a great brother, uncle, cousin, son, and loved his daughters passionately,” Milián said. “He loved life.”