Family reports receiving 16 calls from missing grandparents' landline in collapsed Florida condo

ByAlex Meier WLS logo
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Family reports 16 calls from missing grandparents' collapsed condo
Family reports 16 calls from missing grandparents' collapsed condoA family received 16 phone calls from Myriam and Arnie Notkin's landline after the grandparents were reported missing in the Surfside, Florida building collapse.

SURFSIDE, Fla. -- As hundreds of loved ones wait to hear answers about the dozens missing at the Surfside, Florida, condo collapse site, mysterious phone calls from a landline inside the building are complicating the mystery for one family.

Jake Samuelson told WPLG he was always close with his grandparents Myriam and Arnie Notkin, who lived in apartment 302 of Champlain Towers South. The wing of the 12-story building collapsed suddenly in the middle of the night Thursday, killing at least nine. Rescuers Sunday continued to use heavy machinery and power tools to clear the rubble from the top and tunnel in from below.

Hours after the collapse, around 9:40 p.m. Thursday, Samuelson said his mother's house line received a mysterious phone call from the Notkin's landline.

Static and cracking noises could be heard from the landline, with no discernable human voices.

"We were all sitting there in the living room, my whole family ... We were just shocked, and we kind of thought nothing of it because we answered and it was static," Samuelson said.

SEE ALSO: What we know about those missing in the Miami-area condo collapse

Loved ones share stories of some of the people who remain missing at the site of the seaside Florida condo.

But by Friday, the family received a total of 16 calls from the Notkin's landline.

"We are trying to rationalize what is happening here. We are trying to get answers," Samuelson said

Myriam Caspi Notkin, 81, and Arnie Notkin, 87, married about 20 years ago after losing their spouses, according to a family friend.

"They were a happy couple. We're hoping for a miracle," said Fortuna Smukler, a North Miami Beach commissioner who grew up with Myriam Notkin's three daughters. When they ran into each other as adults, Notkin always recalled her friendship with Smukler's mother, who died 40 years ago.

"Every time Myriam would see me, she always had to make a point of saying how wonderful my mother was," Smukler said. "She was very thoughtful."

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Smukler also knew Arnie Notkin dating back to his days as a physical education teacher and coach at Leroy D. Fienberg Elementary School in South Beach in the 1960s. He had an engaging personality and always had a story to tell.

"He had students who became famous, and he had to tell me about them, how they were good or mischievous," she said.

Samuelson said Myriam worked as a banker and real estate agent.

Note: The video in the media player above reports that Andriana LaFont is looking for answers on her ex-husband, Manual LaFont. Officials confirmed late Saturday that Manual LaFont was killed in the collapse.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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