FLORIDA — A Rose-Hulman alum and his family were among the bodies pulled from the rubble at the site of the June 24 condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida.
The bodies of Luis Pettengill, his wife Sophia López Moreira, and the youngest of their three children were recovered Friday morning.
According to Rose-Hulman, Luis graduated in 2017 with a degree in civil engineering.
"Luis earned a minor in economics, was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and played on the varsity soccer and tennis teams.," the school also said. "He earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association Academic All-America team honors in 2006 and 2004."
MORE | More victims found, 64 still missing in Surfside collapse
“Members of our campus and alumni communities, especially those who knew Luis from his days on campus, are extremely saddened to learn this morning’s reports confirming his death, along with members of his family,” said Rose-Hulman President Robert A. Coons. “We extend our sympathies to the family and others who were touched by Luis’s spirit and friendship.”
After the collapse, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo told local media that six people from the South American country were unaccounted for after the collapse, including Sophia, who was the sister of first lady Silvana Abdo, her husband, their three children and assistant.
Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo told Paraguay’s ABC Cardinal radio station that the two other children and the family’s nanny, Lady Luna, are still missing.
“We ask people for their solidarity and a prayer,” he said. “In the face of a tragedy, Paraguayan people must show their traditional solidarity.”
The death toll from the Surfside building collapse is now up to 78 with 62 people still missing.
