"Her husband, Mike, and family again thank everyone who prayed for Cassie over the past two weeks and reiterated their eternal gratitude to the rescue workers whose courage and determination was unmatched," a statement from her husband's law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck said Monday.

The report added: "She told him she saw a sinkhole, where the pool out her window used to be. Then the line went dead."

Entire family lost

He became emotional talking about his 7-year-old niece, Stella, who had been the light of her mother Graciela's and her grandparents' lives. Taking after her artistic family, Stella had already begun painting, he told CNN.

Marcello Cattarossi said his parents, 89-year-old Gino and Graciela, 86, met in New York nearly 70 years ago. The anchors of his family, they were what he described as "adventurous" and "fearless."

Cattarossi said his father was a civil engineer, who had immigrated from Argentina, eventually moving the family to Miami in the late '80s.

His mother kept the house filled with art and books and spoke multiple languages, he said. "[My mother] could do a perfect drawing," Cattarossi said.

His sister, Andrea Cattarossi, 56, was an architect and a genius, he said.

She was visiting her parents and youngest sister when the building collapsed. Andrea Cattarossi leaves behind three sons in Argentina.

He recalled one time the family was waiting for Graciela to show up for dinner. "Nobody knows where she was. And then we will get a phone call. And then she was like, 'Oh no, I just landed in Greece. And I'm here for taking pictures. And I'll see you guys next week.'"

Cattarossi said despite his loss, "My family was fantastic and it's still going to be fantastic."

Challenges remain at collapse site

Twenty two people remain unaccounted for, Levine Cava said.

"The process of making identifications has become more difficult as time goes on," the mayor said. "We must rely heavily on the work of the medical examiner's office ... to identify human remains. The process is very methodical and it's careful and it does take time," she said.

"The weather service is still embedded with our teams on site so we can get real-time updates to make sure that with any weather changes our first responders are protected from the element for their safety," she said, "We do expect ongoing inclement weathers over the coming days so we do expect there will be a few brief pauses."

As workers continue their recovery efforts, they face several hardships including the painful reality of their mission, the hazardous nature of the work as well as the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jose "Pepe" Diaz and his chief of staff Isidoro Lopez are both self-isolating after testing positive for the virus, according to a news release from Diaz's office Monday. Diaz had helped other local officials in Surfside following the collapse.

Earlier in the month, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said that at least six search and rescue members had been diagnosed with the virus.

The outbreak was among one of the teams from Florida but originated outside of Miami-Dade, he said.