Former Major League Baseball player Eliezer Alfonzo is desperately searching for his wife and daughter, who disappeared in the collapse of the Hotel Eduards in Macuto, Venezuela, following a powerful earthquake on June 24. Alfonzo, 47, has secured heavy machinery to aid search and rescue efforts in the wreckage where his wife, Patricia Alfonzo, 50, and daughter, Eliana Alfonzo, 16, were last known to be.
Rescuers, with the assistance of the machinery, located the family dog alive in the rubble on Friday, an event that fuels Alfonzo's hope that his wife and daughter also survived. The search team also recovered Patricia Alfonzo's cell phone. "If my daughter’s little dog turned up, I think the two of them are in there," Alfonzo told local reporter Maryorin Méndez. "I know my wife and daughter are real fighters."
Alfonzo, who played for the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, and Colorado Rockies, arranged for the equipment to be transported from his hometown of Puerto La Cruz. He had arrived at the hotel with his wife and daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, at approximately 2:45 p.m. local time on June 24. He departed shortly after to join the coaching staff of the Delfines de La Guaira baseball team for a 6 p.m. game.
He last spoke with his wife about 30 minutes before the game began, as they were preparing to attend. Alfonzo noted he is unsure if they had already left their hotel room at that time. The first earthquake, registering a magnitude of 7.2, struck at 6:04 p.m., followed by a 7.5 magnitude tremor just 39 seconds later.
The earthquakes have had a devastating impact on Venezuela, with the death toll rising to 2,595 as of Friday, according to Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez. Among the victims found in the rubble of the Hotel Eduards were the wives of Delfines players Gorkys Hernández and Harold Chirinos. Alfonzo expressed his faith that his wife and daughter will not be added to the tragic count, stating, "Tests have been conducted. They’ve brought in dogs. The dogs are picking up signs of life." Alfonzo's son, Eliezer Jr., 26, was recently called up to the major leagues by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and another son, Omar Alfonzo, 22, is in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. "And as I always say, I won’t stop until I have them in my hands. I remain confident that they are alive," Alfonzo said.
