Groom found under hotel rubble two days before his wedding
24-year-old Juan Felipe Giraldo traveled to the city of Pereira, Colombia, for work, while his fiancée and two-year-old son awaited his return for their wedding scheduled for Sunday. A 7.4 magnitude earthquake caused the collapse of the hotel where he was staying. For days, his father searched for him among the ruins, until his body was recovered on Friday.
Giraldo, an eyewear salesman who lived in Bogota with his fiancée Natalia Patiño and their son, arrived in Pereira early Monday morning, August 10. A few hours later, the earthquake struck western Colombia, and the Dibeni Hotel in the city center collapsed. Giraldo was declared missing, and his family began desperate attempts to determine his exact location at the moment of the collapse.
One of the key clues was a video he sent to his fiancée shortly before the disaster. The footage helped the family and rescue teams identify the specific area of the hotel where he was staying. His father, Hernan Giraldo, immediately traveled to Pereira and remained with the rescue teams for days, hoping his son was still alive under the concrete. Even as the search dragged on, the father refused to lose hope.
During the rescue operations, he noted that signs had been received that might indicate survivors among the ruins.
"If there is life, there is hope," he said in one of the videos from the scene.
He even addressed his son directly, telling him that he was supposed to get married on Sunday, and it did not matter if the wedding was postponed for a week or two, as long as he was there. On Friday, hope was momentarily bolstered after rescue teams identified possible signs of life inside the hotel ruins. However, in the afternoon, the search reached a tragic end: rescue teams located Giraldo's body, and his family identified him. He was found four days after the earthquake and just 48 hours before the wedding scheduled for August 16.
After the announcement of his death, Patiño posted a photo of herself with Giraldo and their young son on social media.
"Forever and always, my heart. You were the most complete love I ever had. I love you forever," she wrote.
Giraldo is one of hundreds killed in the earthquake, which hit Pereira, Cali, and other areas in western Colombia hard. According to the latest update, the death toll has risen to 295. Another 3,935 people were injured and 320 are still listed as missing. More than 14,000 homes were destroyed and 66 buildings collapsed across the affected areas.
