Bucks County Grieves Couple Who Died In Surfside Collapse

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bonnie and David Epstein, residents of Holland Township for about 15 years, were killed in the Champlain Towers collapse in Surfside, Florida.

NBC 10 reported Wednesday that the pair's bodies were among those recovered during search and rescue efforts of the past week. Their son, 26-year-old Jonathan Epstein, said that his parents had been splitting time recently between homes in Surfside, in Brooklyn, NY, and in Ventor, NJ.

Crews discovered the body of Bonnie, 56, on Wednesday, June 30, and found David, 58, on Friday.

According to an obituary by The Philadelphia Inquirer Tuesday, the couple had purchased their ninth floor Champlain Towers apartment in 2005. David was a retired real estate investor, and the pair had just finished signing papers for a penthouse in the building. When in Florida, they loved jet skiing and scuba diving.

"They were just the absolute coolest," Jonathan told the Inquirer. "I feel so grateful to be their son."

The couple were purportedly enjoying their retirement in Surfside this summer with a dog they'd just adopted.

"My heart is broken and pounds for Jonathan and David's sister Barbara," Richard Oller, a family friend and David's business partner, wrote on Facebook. "Through my deep sadness, my only comfort is knowing that on Wednesday, David was the happiest man I know, and he and Bonnie are still together. Perhaps that's a lesson I can learn from my former intern, partner and dear friend. Perhaps it's [a] lesson we can all learn."

On Wednesday, 36 people had been found dead at the site of the Champlain Towers collapse, with 109 people unaccounted for.

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