Recent MU graduate moved into Iowa apartment building a day before collapse

By Stephanie Southey

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    DAVENPORT, Iowa (KOMU) — A recent MU graduate says she has lost all of her belongings after her apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, partially collapsed over the weekend.

Elizabeth Pruitt, who graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism three weeks ago, moved into the apartment building at 324 Main Street just one day before it partially collapsed Sunday afternoon.

“This was my first apartment after graduating from the University of Missouri. I moved in on Saturday, the day before it happened,” Pruitt said.

Five people remain unaccounted for after the back portion of the six-story building collapsed. Officials believe two of those missing may still be in the building, according to CNN.

The debris from the collapse is currently helping to hold the building up, CNN reported, but the stability of the building continues to degrade.

Pruitt said crews were able to rescue her cat out of the rubble on Tuesday. She told the Quad-City Times she was continuing to process what happened, but mostly she is concerned for the safety of others.

“I still think it’s good that they’re going to tear it down, because it is structurally unsafe, obviously, but there are people in there,” Pruitt told the Quad-City Times. “My stuff is just stuff. There are memories with it, but most of that I can get back.”

Pruitt started a GoFundMe to help replace the items and mementos she lost, as well as find a new place to call home as she begins her photo-journalism internship for the Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus.

So far, the fund has raised nearly $3,000 of its $5,000 goal.

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