The bodies of all three people missing after the collapse of the downtown Davenport apartment building have now been recovered, Police Chief Jeff Bladel said at a city news conference on Monday morning.
“Three victims have been recovered from the scene in the past 48 hours,” Bladel said. “On Saturday, June 3, 2023, 11:59 a.m., a victim was recovered and forensically identified as Branden Colvin, Sr., 42 years of age of Davenport.”
Relatives of Colvin had been among the leading voices calling for the city not to begin demolition on the partially collapsed building at 324 Main St. His son, Branden, Jr., had been keeping a vigil at the site. On Saturday, he graduated from high school.
“He’s proud of me. He is the reason I was even able to have enough strength to walk across the stage,” the 18-year-old Colvin told CNN after the graduation ceremony. “I walked across that stage today knowing my dad is proud of me and will forever be proud of me.”
On Sunday at 12:25 p.m., the body of Ryan Hitchcock was recovered, Bladel said during the news conference. Daniel Prien’s remains were recovered at 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning.
All three men lived in the section of the building that collapsed on May 28.
Bladel also on Monday said an investigation into any criminal wrongdoing in the building’s collapse had been initiated by the Davenport Fire Marshal’s Office, with the assistance of the police department.
“This is an active investigation, so details will be released when we can actually provide additional information,” he said.
So far, the only enforcement action taken related to the collapse has been a citation issued to building owner Andrew Wold for failing to maintain the apartment building according to city code standards. If Wold is convicted on that charge, he faces a fine of $300.
On Friday evening, the Quad City Times reported Tony Behncke, operations director for the Downtown Davenport Partnership, called 911 the day before the building collapse to report safety concerns. A partnership worker collecting trash near 324 Main St, had called Behncke to let him know the facade of the building was crumbling and appeared to pose a safety risk.
Asked about the 911 call at Monday’s news conference, Mayor Mike Matson said “we are looking into it.”
City officials said now that all the missing had been accounted for and their bodies recovered, the city is moving to the “next phase” of handling the aftermath of the collapse, but did not provide details.
Matson was asked what role building owner Wold had been playing in the decision about what to do with 324 Main St.
“I have had no contact with him,” he replied.
On Friday, the first civil lawsuit related to the collapse was filed in Scott County district court. Mildred Harrington, a former resident of 324 Main St, and Rijeh Garnett, who lives in a nearby building that was impacted by the collapse, are suing Davenport Hotel LLC, the limited liability corporation that is registered as the building’s owner. Wold is the sole owner of the LLC.
The plaintiffs are alleging the owner was negligent in maintaining the building, and asking for unspecified damages.
