Authorities have found the body of one of the four construction workers who remained missing following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Divers recovered the body in the Baltimore Bridge waters on Friday, April 5, 2024. Authorities identified the recovered individual as 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval.
The 38-year-old father of two worked for years to improve his family’s life in Maryland. In addition, he worked to improve his hometown, Azacualpa, which he left nearly two decades ago. Suazo-Sandoval is finally returning to Honduras, which he sought to improve. Unfortunately, not in the way he hoped.
The cargo vessel that struck the Baltimore Bridge in late March cut the 38-year-old’s life short. The bridge where he and seven other construction workers were fixing potholes collapsed into the Patapsco River. Only two people survived.
Following the tragic accident, officials worked to recover the bodies. Unified Command salvage divers recovered Suazo-Sandoval’s body at about 10:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Afterward, they notified the Maryland Department of State Police, authorities said.
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Then, state police deployed a recovery team along with dive teams from law enforcement partners to recover the missing body. Authorities met with the late construction worker’s family to notify them that his body had been found. His brother, Martin Suazo, told reporters in a call that the family plans to return his body to Honduras.
Gustavo Torres, the executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a group that works with immigrants, spoke about Suazo-Sandoval after authorities found his body. Torres stated that the late father of two migrated from Honduras over 17 years ago.
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He said Suazo-Sandoval dreamed of starting a small business and brought joy and humor to his family. Described as a hard worker, Suazo-Sandoval labored to provide for his family and community in the U.S. and Honduras. His brother also noted that he pushed his siblings to work hard to create a family business.
“He wanted us to succeed as a family and then help others who need it,” Martin Suazo told USA TODAY. “That was one of his dreams.” A relative of the late construction worker also revealed that he contributed heavily to local youth soccer leagues in Azacualpa. The relative noted that it was Suazo-Sandoval’s way of uplifting children there.
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Videos on social media have since shown young players thanking the late father of two for his contributions to let them play soccer. In the U.S., he worked with the Baltimore nonprofit Day Worker Center CASA for over a decade. Before his death, Suazo-Sandoval reportedly worked on his residency in the U.S.
Since the bridge collapsed on March 26, officials have recovered two other bodies. Authorities identified them as Dorian Castillo Cabrera, a 25-year-old Guatemalan man, and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Mexico. They found the two inside a truck that had plunged into the water.
Three workers remain missing, and authorities presume them dead. They include Miguel Luna, a father of five from California, a 35-year-old from Guatemala, and a worker from Mexico. Suazo-Sandoval lived in Owings Mills, Maryland. He is survived by his wife, a son, 18, and a daughter, 5.
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