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Branden Colvin Jr. walked the stage at his high school graduation Saturday to rounds of applause and shouts of “we love you.”
But one person wasn’t there to join in the celebration.
Authorities told Colvin Jr.’s family Saturday afternoon the body of his father, Branden Colvin Sr., had been recovered from the rubble of the partially collapsed apartment building in Davenport, Iowa.
“He’s proud of me. He is the reason I was even able to have enough strength to walk across the stage,” Colvin Jr., 18, told CNN. “I walked across that stage today knowing my dad is proud of me and will forever be proud of me.”
It was a sad resolution to a painful week of waiting for the family of the elder Colvin, who had been missing since the six-story apartment building partially collapsed May 28.
Following the incident, the younger Colvin slept on the pavement near the building site and refused to leave the scene, even as officials warned the rest of the building could come crashing down at any time.
“I haven’t slept. I have been out here three days, at night, all night, just waiting for anything,” Colvin Jr. told CNN earlier in the week.
Colvin Jr. wasn’t sure he would be able to bring himself to attend the graduation ceremony, he told CNN before his father’s body was found.
