Missing Couple's Grandson Gets Mysterious Calls From Their Collapsed Florida Condo

The grandson of a missing couple who lived in the Florida building that collapsed last week has claimed that his family received over a dozen calls from the landline of his grandparents' apartment since the incident.

Jake Samuelson said his mother's house line has received a total of 16 calls from the landline in the Surfside condo of his grandparents, Arnie and Myriam Notkin, local outlet WPLG reported.

The couple, both in their 80s, had lived in apartment 302 in the Champlain Towers South, which partially collapsed Thursday, The Miami Herald reported. Arnie was a physical education teacher, while Myriam was a banker and real estate agent, according to WPLG.

According to Samuelson, the first call came at approximately 9:50 p.m. on the day the 12-story building collapsed.

"We were all sitting there in the living room, my whole family, [my sister], my mother, and we were just shocked and we kind of thought nothing of it because we answered, and it was static," Samuelson was quoted as saying by WPLG.

Samuelson said the family received 15 more calls when they went to the reunification center the next morning.

"We are trying to rationalize what is happening here, we are trying to get answers," he said, adding that the last call they received was from Friday night.

The Samuelsons have reached out to a detective following the calls, but they have yet to receive any answers. Authorities said they are also looking into the calls, according to the outlet.

"We are just waiting for answers. That’s what we want," Arnie and Myriam's daughter, Dianne Ohayon, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

"It’s hard to go through these long days and we haven’t gotten any answers yet," she said.

WPLG said it tried calling the Notkins' number but only heard "the sound of a busy signal."

The death toll of the building's collapse rose to nine confirmed dead as of Sunday, according to the Associated Press.

Officials said 152 people were still unaccounted for after nearly four days of search-and-rescue efforts.

Authorities are now gathering DNA samples from family members to aid in identification.