Family and friends resume Saturday search for missing teen after Venezuela quakes

Ten weeks after the back-to-back earthquakes that shattered La Guaira, Antonella Molina, her nephew Pedro and about fifteen friends set out on a Saturday morning, flyers in hand, to scour the debris for 18-year-old Andrés Molina, who vanished when the tremors hit on June 24. While the government reports 6,500 dead and 1,500 missing, independent counts suggest many more are unaccounted for, prompting families to act without official assistance.

Earlier, the family recovered the bodies of Andrés’s mother and brother from their collapsed ten-story apartment, but Andrés was never found, not even his trademark backpack. Neighbors have occasionally seen a young man resembling Andrés gathering scrap metal, and police once reported a possible sighting near a golf course, yet each lead has proved inconclusive. A longstanding feud between Andrés’s parents has strained family coordination, though his father also joins the search. Despite repeated disappointment and emotional strain, Antonella says she will keep looking until she knows her nephew is safe.