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Cassondra "Cassie" Stratton was on the phone with her husband, Colorado Democratic strategist Michael Stratton, when the Champlain Towers South high-rise in Surfside, Florida, collapsed around her in the early morning hours of June 24.
"She described that the building was shaking and then … the phone went dead," the 66-year-old told the Denver-based FOX 31 Monday.
His wife, a 40-year-old model who frequently captioned her images with blurbs about astrology and positive thinking, was found Saturday and identified Sunday.
The Strattons owned a condo in the doomed high-rise in Surfside, just outside of Miami, for the past four years, and the model had spent most of the coronavirus pandemic there. (Cassie Stratton)
SURFSIDE CONDO COLLAPSE: BODY OF CASSIE STRATTON IDENTIFIED
The New Orleans native split time between New York and Miami, according to her social media accounts. The couple owned a condo in the doomed high-rise in Surfside, just outside of Miami, for the past four years, and she had spent most of the coronavirus pandemic there.
The last time the couple saw each other in person was three days before the collapse, before Michael Stratton flew out of Miami for a business trip to Washington, the Miami Herald reported earlier this week.
The Strattons met at a Super Bowl party in 2014, according to the paper, and married two years later.
In her final Instagram post, the day before the collapse, she posed in capri pants, a black top and sunglasses, sharing a message about astrology.
"Can i get an AMEN!" she wrote. "It’s been a wild ride these past few weeks.. between the Solar Eclipse, Lunar Eclipse, Mercury Retrograde, Jupiter and Saturn going Retrograde… It’s been dizzying! Now we will begin to see things leveling out…Tomorrow we have a Full Moon in Capricorn."
The full moon rose at around 2:40 p.m. ET, according to NASA – roughly 13 hours after the condo collapse.
Michael Stratton flew to Miami after the collapse, and other relatives scrambled to arrange a trip from Louisiana, anxiously awaiting news of their loved one for nearly three weeks.
New Orleans businessman Scott Ballard helped get a flight for Stratton’s mother, Kerry Billedeau, and Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise helped get the family in touch with rescue crews, according to the New Orleans-based FOX 8.
Cassie Stratton is survived by her husband, her daughter, Ariana, and stepsons Matt and Sam.
According to the website for his law firm, Michael Stratton, who works in both Denver and Washington, has spent decades working with Democrats in Colorado, including the campaigns of Sen. Michael Bennet and former Gov. John Hickenlooper. He also worked in the administrations of former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
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The collapse death toll rose to at least 94 as of Tuesday evening, and 83 of the victims had been identified.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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