Belen grad Juan Mora Jr. was visiting his parents at Champlain Towers. They’re all missing
.png "Juan Mora (left), Oscar Cepero and Daniel Ugarte. Mora is still missing after the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, FL.")
To his Belen Jesuit friends, Juan Mora Jr. was more than a classmate, but a brother.
Mora, a Loyola University graduate who lives in Chicago, was visiting his parents Juan Mora Sr. and Ana Mora at their home in the Champlain Towers South Condo when the building came crashing down early Thursday morning.
All three Moras are still missing.
Oscar Cepero, 31, was fishing with Mora last Saturday just blocks from the condominium. He said the news feels “surreal.” When he heard about the catastrophic incident, he jumped in his car and headed to the scene.
“I was like, this looks like his parent’s place,” Cepero said. “I went to the reunification place and was looking around for them, but nobody was providing information.”
Mora, Cepero and the third member of their trio, Daniel Ugarte, grew up together near Coral Gables. Ana Mora, a Delta employee who loved to travel with her family, cooked for the boys and was “super nice,” Ugarte remembers.
Cepero said he remembers Juan Sr. fondly “as a typical Cuban... headstrong.”
The three graduated in 2007, and went separate ways. But Mora and Cepero reunited on a program in China, and they always made time for each other during the holidays in Miami.
They liked hang out, get drinks and play video games.
Cepero said the Belen community has been “hit hard” by the news. The Moras and another family — the Urgelles — still remain missing.
This story was originally published June 26, 2021 at 8:37 AM.