MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – A 90-year-old woman is pleading for repairs to a broken elevator that has kept her from visiting her late husband’s grave in a Miami Lakes mausoleum.
For months, Margarita Hernandez has stood at the base of the stairs in frustration, unable to reach the second floor of the mausoleum where her husband’s remains rest.
The couple was married for 69 years before Raul Hernandez passed away in June, but the broken elevator at Vista Memorial Gardens has kept her from paying her respects.
“I want to see him, touch where he is. I can’t,” she said, holding back tears when speaking to Local 10′s Jeff Weinsier. “I just want to talk to my husband. I miss him a lot.”
Hernandez’s daughter, Susy Pacheco, has been bringing her mother to the cemetery weekly, hoping each time that the elevator will finally be fixed.
“I’ve been to the office, complained, called, but their excuse is that they haven’t been able to get an elevator company to come out,” Pacheco said. “The latest excuse is they’re waiting on something from the city, but they haven’t given us a timeline.”
Others on social media have reported the same issue at the cemetery. Frustrated by the lack of answers and progress, Pacheco reached out to Weinsier for help.
“It’s frustrating for me,” said Pacheco. “It hurts me to see her that way.”
According to county records, the elevator failed an inspection in May due to a broken communication device and other needed repairs.
While a follow-up inspection in July showed the elevator had passed, it remains closed to visitors.
Weinsier found out the owners voluntarily took the elevator out of service for modernization, but Miami-Dade’s chief elevator inspector, Nick Ortiz, revealed that a permit was only pulled after inquiries from Local 10. Ortiz also noted that damaged circuit boards could extend repairs by up to two months.
Miami-Dade County officials said they’re monitoring the situation to ensure the repair is not “unduly delayed.”
Meanwhile, Hernandez waits anxiously, hoping for the day she can finally visit her husband.
“I can’t sleep at night,” she said. “I think, when will I be able to see him again? They just say they don’t know.”
In Miami Lakes, Hernandez’s loved ones and other families continue to seek answers.