Brooklyn-born Estelle Hedaya among those still missing in Surfside building collapse
Estelle Hedaya goes by different names depending on her audience. Her family and friends call her Stella for short, but she is also known as Cha Cha for her iconic moves on the dance floor. Online, she is known as the author of a travel and food blog called Follow the Toes.
Hedaya is currently missing in the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside. She lived in apartment 604.
She grew up in Brooklyn and was devoted to her faith in Judaism, close friend Mindy Beth Silverman said.
Silverman met her through mutual friends in 1996 and she said Hedaya was always up for making fun memories. When they both lived in New York, the two would throw yearly double birthdays because their celebrations were within days of each other.
The search continues. Here are some of the people missing after the Surfside condo collapse
She was a Capricorn, while Silverman was an Aquarius. Every year, the friends would get together, hit a sports bar and a nice restaurant to celebrate another year together.
“If there was something fun to do, she was first in line. Just, that was her,” Silverman said.
She moved down to Miami in 2015 for her dream job as a director of operations for Continental Buying Group and Preferred Jewelers International. Silverman said she had never seen her friend so happy and full of life.
Hedaya loved posting everything from her solo travels to her fitness videos and even pole dancing videos. She was happily in her 50s, successful, thriving and in the prime of her life, she said.
In the past three years, she built this incredible life for herself, surrounded by love and good relationships, Silverman said. During COVID-19, she hosted “Hedaya Happy Hour” over Zoom and chatted with her friends from her terrace on the beach.
“No one would ever have a bad word to say about her,” Silverman said.
After surviving the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York, she said the video of the collapse was triggering. She only knew one person in Surfside and is praying she will see her again soon.
“If there would ever be a miracle, it would be her,” she said.
