One of the four construction workers who went missing after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse was found dead on Friday, according to police.
The Unified Command identified the recovered subject as Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38 years old. His family has been alerted, according to authorities.
Unified Command salvage dive crews located what they thought to be the missing construction worker at 10:30 a.m. ET on Friday and alerted the Maryland Department of State Police, according to officials. Suazo-Sandoval was discovered by a team of state police officers and law enforcement divers.
According to Gustavo Torres, executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an immigrant advocacy organization, the father of two migrated from Honduras over 17 years ago. He hoped to start a modest business and bring joy and comedy to his family, Torres told reporters last week.
Suazo-Sandoval was one of six construction workers murdered when a cargo ship collided with the Baltimore bridge early on March 26, causing the span to almost completely collapse in the Port of Baltimore.
Two workers’ remains were covered one day after the fall. Divers discovered them trapped in a red pickup truck underwater in about 25 feet of water near the bridge’s center span, Maryland State Police said.
Police identified the workers as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, a native of Mexico who lived in Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, a Guatemalan who lived in Dundalk, Maryland.
Three workers remain missing and are believed dead. They include Miguel Luna, a father of five from Usulutan, California, El Salvador, according to his relatives.
According to their respective foreign ministries, a 35-year-old Guatemalan from Camotán, Chiquimula, and a Mexican worker are still missing.
“There are families who are still waiting to hear if we have found their loved one,” Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said in a statement on Friday. “I can promise you, we are fully committed to finding closure for each of these families.”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott stated the recovery of the third victim “brings us one step closer to closure,” but added that “my heart continues to be with all of the families who are still waiting anxiously for their loved ones.”
“I am grateful for the first responders who have maintained focus on recovering the remaining victims and continued their work to clear the channel with the utmost care,” he added in a written statement. “We will continue to do everything in our power to support these families, and provide whatever they need to persevere through this unthinkable tragedy.”
The victim’s recovery occurred on the same day that President Joe Biden visited the collapse site.
Biden hailed first responders for their efforts and planned to meet with the families of the six workers killed in the bridge catastrophe.
“They were hard workers laboring in the middle of the night to repair potholes on a bridge that tens of thousands of travelers crossed every day,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a Thursday briefing.