Colorado Politics

Body of Cassondra Stratton, wife of Colorado political strategist, identified in collapsed Florida condo

Authorities have confirmed the death of the Colorado woman who had been missing since late June in a partially collapsed Florida condo tower, a spokeswoman for her husband said Monday.

The body of Cassondra “Cassie” Stratton, the 40-year-old wife of veteran Colorado political consultant Mike Stratton, was identified Sunday, family spokeswoman Lara Day said in a statement.

“Her husband, Mike, and family again thank everyone who prayed for Cassie over the past two weeks and reiterated their eternal gratitude to the rescue workers whose courage and determination was unmatched,” said Day in a statement issued by Stratton’s firm, Denver-based Brownstein, Hyatt Farber Schreck.

“Mike and Cassie’s family respectfully request privacy as they mourn and prepare for her memorial service.”

Officials said Monday that the death toll has risen to 94 in the June 24 collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South beachfront condo building in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, with the bodies of 83 victims identified and an estimated 22 people still listed as unaccounted for.

“This wasn’t the miracle we prayed for, but it was not for lack of trying by rescue crews whose tireless bravery will never be forgotten,” Mike Stratton said Thursday, adding that friends and family had accepted “the loss of a bright and kind soul with an adventurous spirit.”

Cassie Stratton worked as an actress, model and Pilates instructor and loved to walk and bike on the beach, family members have said. The couple had been staying at the beachside condo during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stratton, a Durango native and senior policy adviser at Brownstein, has worked on 10 presidential campaigns and played prominent roles in electing many of Colorado’s leading Democrat since the 1970s, including as an advisor and strategist for both of the state’s incumbent U.S. senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper.

Mike and Cassie Stratton are pictured at the premiere of “The Front Runner,” a movie about Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential run, on Nov. 8, 2018, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver. A younger version of Mike Stratton, a veteran Democratic campaign consultant, was portrayed in the movie by actor Alex Karpovsky.
(courtesy photo)
Photographs of victims – including Cassondra Stratton, the wife of Colorado political strategist Mike Stratton, top center – hang on a memorial wall along a fence near the site at the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside, Fla., on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The apartment building partially collapsed on Thursday, June 24.
(David Santigo/Miami Herald via AP)
Ariana Hevia, of New Orleans, La., center, daughter of missing resident Cassondra Stratton, stands with Sean Wilt, left, near the 12-story beachfront condo building which partially collapsed, on Friday, June 25, 2021, in the Surfside area of Miami. Search and rescue teams continue to work at the site hoping to detect any sounds coming from survivors.
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Cassondra and Mike Stratton.jpg
Photo courtesy of Mike Stratton
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