Add The New York Post on Google The body of an American man and his wife — who recently “self deported” from the US during an unresolved immigration case — were recovered from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Venezuela nearly a month after twin earthquakes rocked the South American nation.
Andrew Widme, a North Dakota native who grew up in Minnesota, moved to Venezuela May 4 after his wife, Yelitza Widme, voluntarily left the US on April 19 to return to her native country while her immigration case remained unresolved, his mother, Linda Morrison, told The Post.
A United Cajun Navy search and rescue team recovered Andrew’s body on July 19.
“From the moment Andrew was found, he was never left alone. He was treated with the dignity, care, and respect every person deserves,” the volunteer disaster relief organization said in a statement.
“At the field hospital, his mother was able to identify him through a tattoo, bringing heartbreaking confirmation, but also the certainty that her son would finally be coming home.”
Yelitza’s body was found by family members on Tuesday, according to Caracol Radio correspondent Gabriela González.
Andrew, 42, the father of two teenage sons from a previous marriage, met Yelitza, 31, only months before proposing. They married in February 2025.
“He was just crazy about her. They weren’t together for very long before they got married,” Morrison said. “She seemed to really love him.”
When Andrew decided to move Venezuela, “it was really hard, especially with his boys here,” Morrison said. “He had a new job in Florida that he had to quit to go down there.”
According to her mother, Rosa Colmenares, Yelitza arrived in the US nearly three years ago with her two children from a previous relationship and applied for asylum.
Morrison said Yelitza was eventually granted a work permit but was later detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement this year after being arrested in an unrelated criminal case. Morrison said Yelitza was never convicted.
“Once her criminal case got to a certain point — she was never convicted or anything — she was taken to Louisiana from Miami,” Morrison said.
Morrison said Yelitza was told that voluntarily leaving the US could improve her chances of legally returning in the future compared with receiving a formal deportation order.
“So she self-deported,” Morrison said.
Colmenares told González that the newlyweds initially rented a home in Caracas before moving to the beachside Coral Mar residential complex in La Guaira, where they hoped to build a new life together.
“They had dreamed of setting up a small food business and moving forward with their lives,” she said.
“They were supposed to hand over the apartment on Thursday — the day (after) the tragedy,” Colmenares said. “Instead, they ended up trapped there.”
Morrison is now awaiting to receive her son’s remains, which were cremated.
“It was hard news but comforting to know that he’ll come home,” she said.
