Crews Working Hard At Salvaging Everything They Can From Surfside Rubble To Return To Rightful Owners

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Recovery crews at the surfside condo collapse debris pile dealt with heavy rain again Tuesday.

It is now day 20 in the crisis.

A third of the Champlain Towers South collapsed on June 24th killing over 90 people. On Tuesday officials said 14 people are still missing.

The rain for the past several days has created small lakes in the debris field and added another obstacle in the recovery efforts.

In between the downpours, crews continue to sift through the rubble looking for victims and personal items.

The Miami-Dade police department is in charge of cataloging all the items and keeping them under lock and key until they can be returned to the families.

"Every keepsake we retrieve is solid gold," says Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett.
The items recovered include money, jewelry, religious pieces and even artwork.

"This is methodical. There's one person who has a key to where all the items are stored. It is secure 24 hours a day," says Detective Argemis Colome of the Miami-Dade Police Department.

Detective Colome says they have not yet created a system to return the property to the rightful owners.

The families of the victims have been filling out paperwork noting items that may be in the rubble.