Remains of McGill graduate killed in Surfside tragedy found

MONTREAL -

Anna Gromova says there hasn’t been a day she hasn’t cried -- and it’s been 27 days.

“It’s been extremely hard. It’s almost been one month,” she told CTV News.

Her 24-year-old sister Anastasiya was among the last people still missing from the collapse of a condominium tower in Surfside June 24. 

Authorities identified the woman's remains on Wednesday, her mother Larysa Gromova confirmed to CTV News.

Anastasiya is one of 97 victims of the Miami disaster.

A polyglot with an adventurous spirit, Anastasiya Gromova had just finished her bachelor’s degree at McGill University and had been accepted to a program to teach English in Japan in the fall.

The young woman had travelled to Taiwan, Malaysia and to New Zealand alone, and could speak English, French, Russian and Japanese. Her family said she was in Surfside spending time with a friend of hers — another McGill student, Michelle Pazos. The remains of both Pazos and her father, who owned a condo there, have also been identified.

“It wasn’t the last trip together before Japan, it was the last trip together for all,” Larysa said. “And I believe they’re together now.”

The family could do little but wait for nearly a month as investigators combed through the scene.

"We’re still here in this mourning period that never ends,” Anna Gromova said before her remains were found. "It’s just taking too long. We’re really looking for closure. It’s just excruciating."

Anna described her sister as a driven and self-sufficient person who was curious about the world.

“I just hoped we had more time together, but I’m also grateful for the time we had,” she said.

“She was like a star that burned bright and fell fast. Everything was over way too fast.”