Taken from BBC News Mundo
Mike Stratton was sleeping when he was woken up by the sound of his phone.
It was Cassondra Billedeau-Stratton, his wife, calling him desperately because the building where she was in Miami was shaking.
He told her that from his balcony he could see how the ground surrounding the pool had collapsed, leaving a hole.
Then the phone line went down.
"It was 1:30 in the morning. I'll never, ever forget that," Mike said.
Cassondra is one of the 98 fatalities left by the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South building at 8777 Collins Avenue in Surfside.
That early morning of June 24, something that seemed unimaginable happened: an apartment building facing the sea was swallowed by the earth.
And although some of the occupants managed to escape alive, Cassie, as she is called by her family and friends, was not so lucky.
His remains were found under the rubble by rescue teams who spent weeks trying to find signs of life.
"I wish I hadn't been there that night," says his sister Ashley Dean, from New Orleans, in an interview with BBC Mundo.
"She was always traveling. She had recently been in New York and was supposed to come home a few days after the collapse. But she never arrived.".
Cassie was a model. Because she loved to travel so much, she created a blog called "Chic Living 365," where she posted photos and articles about beauty, fashion, and lifestyle in her favorite places.
During her life, she also worked as an interior decorator, actress, and pilates instructor, an activity that had recently become one of her great passions.
She met her husband in New York and they got married five years ago.
“Cassie and Mike started spending more and more time in Miami, especially with the pandemic. They moved into apartment 410, where they had a wonderful view, but she used to say that she felt little tremors in the condominium when they started building a building on the lot next door,” her sister says.
They had spent a few days together in the apartment, until Mike left because he had to travel to Washington DC.
They said goodbye without imagining that it would be the last time they would be together.
More than three months have passed since the tragedy occurred.
The remains of the building that were still standing were demolished, and where the Champlain Towers South building once stood, there is now an empty lot facing the sea.
A multi-million dollar plot of land … and a “sacred ” place
A piece of land worth tens of millions of dollars, but which for some of the victims' families has a "sacred" character.
The debate over the fate of the 1.88 acres (0.7 hectares) has brought to the table the conflicting interests of some of the victims' families, who lost their loved ones, and the homeowners, who lost their homes, some of whom survived the horror of that night.
Miami-Dade County Judge Michael Hanzman, who oversees the numerous legal claims related to the case, approved the sale of the land on Thursday.
The court will use the money to compensate the owners of the 136 destroyed apartments and the families affected by the tragedy.
The real estate company DAMAC Properties, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has already offered US$120 million for the land to build luxury apartments.
However, the court is accepting other competing offers.
That is why some of the victims' families are currently campaigning to find donors willing to buy the land to prevent a real estate development from taking place.
These families want a memorial to be built to honor their dead, instead of a building.
"The blood of my sister and the other 97 victims runs like veins through that land," says Cassondra Billedeau-Stratton's sister, Ashley Dean.
"I envision a memorial with gardens and waterfalls. A place that Cassie herself would visit. A place where she could stand on the very spot where she lost her life.".
Dean is open to the possibility of finding some kind of intermediate solution that would allow the construction of a memorial and, at the same time, a residential building on the site.
But not everyone agrees with that alternative.
"We do not build on the bodies of the dead."
Some families believe that the only viable option is to build a memorial that occupies the entire area where the collapse occurred, that is, the 1.88 acres.
"In the United States, we don't build on the bodies of the dead," Rabbi Lisa Shrem told BBC Mundo.
She lost her best friend, Estelle Hedaya, in the collapse, the last victim to be identified, 33 days after the collapse.
"We didn't receive whole bodies. What we received were small pieces of their bodies. That means the rest is in that land, probably in the form of ashes.".
"According to Jewish law, it is very important that the body be respected as much as the soul. These laws do not allow us to build on graves ."
Shrem is leading the efforts to raise the necessary funds for the land to be purchased by an individual or group of individuals who will build the memorial.
"We are seeking public and private funding. We are calling on everyone, from the President of the United States to the Governor of Florida, generous businesspeople, philanthropists, companies, everyone who can contribute.".
"I lived through the same nightmare"
Shrem traveled from New York to Surfside to support the cause of those who refuse to accept seeing a new building on the site of the tragedy.
whose husband died in the attacks on the Twin Towers in September 2011, also did so
She worked for the construction of the memorial that exists today on the site where the towers collapsed and is now supporting the families of the victims of the collapse in Surfside.
" I never recovered my husband's remains , and that is one of the reasons why building a memorial was so important in my life."
"I understand the suffering they are experiencing and that's why I want to help them," he tells BBC Mundo.
In the New York bombings and the collapse of Champlain Towers South, Iken-Murphy explains, there were "horrific deaths.".
"On both occasions, people died because of evil acts. Some were victims of terrorism, others victims of corruption. Some went to work and never returned home, and here others went to sleep and never woke up.".
"I lived through the same nightmare they are living through now. We are going to build a memorial in the same place and not somewhere else.".
"She was my little sister"
The problem is that if they don't get the necessary funds, everything indicates that the sale of the land to a real estate developer will go ahead.
"I understand that it is difficult for families to accept what the judge has said," says Charles Burkett, mayor of Surfside, in an interview with BBC Mundo.
"But I think the property will be sold and a real estate company will build a building on that site."
For now, "I'm not sure where the memorial will be located.".
However, the family members are keeping hope alive.
"There is enough land for a good building and enough land for a beautiful memorial," Cassie's sister points out.
" There's enough land for everyone to find peace ." His greatest wish is that a generous donor will appear.
"Cassie was my little sister. She was a spiritual woman who loved the universe and was full of energy. I would like a memorial at the same place where she died. Everything is now in God's hands.".
