Miss Grand Florida is mourning the death of Skarlent Rodriguez, the Venezuelan model and Miss Grand Orlando 2025, who was confirmed killed after the earthquakes that struck Venezuela in late June. Miss Grand International and Miss Grand Florida both issued statements on 1 and 2 July 2026 expressing condolences and asking for prayers and financial support for her family.
For context, the news came after a pair of strong earthquakes hit Venezuela on 24 June and caused widespread destruction across several regions, according to humanitarian and seismic updates. The United Nations Population Fund said the quakes measured 7.2 and 7.5 and left more than 130 aftershocks, while early reports indicated more than 200 fatalities and close to 1,500 injuries. That scale helps explain why pageant tributes to Rodriguez quickly became part of a much larger national tragedy.
Miss Grand Rodriguez Confirmed Dead
Miss Grand International said it was mourning the 'tragic passing' of Skarlent Rodríguez, Miss Grand Orlando 2025, and extended its 'deepest condolences' to her family, loved ones and everyone affected by the disaster. The organisation also said its thoughts and prayers were with the people of Venezuela as they faced the days ahead. Miss Grand Florida issued a separate tribute, saying it was 'heartbroken beyond words' by what it called an 'unimaginable tragedy'.
Rodriguez was a Venezuelan model based in the United States and had represented Orlando in the Miss Grand Florida pageant circuit. Reports from other outlets said she and her boyfriend, José Castro, were later found dead beneath the rubble of their collapsed apartment in La Guaira after being missing for several days, but the pageant organisations' statements remain the clearest public confirmation of her death. In disaster coverage, that distinction matters, because the first details are not always the cleanest.
Miss Grand Florida Tribute
Miss Grand Florida said Rodriguez would be remembered not only for her beauty and accomplishments but also for the way she uplifted others and carried herself with dignity and light. That line, repeated across the organisation's posts, gave a more personal sense of who she was to the people around her, rather than just the title she held. The group also said her legacy would live on among fellow queens, judges, directors and members of the Miss Grand Florida family.
The organisation asked the public to keep Rodriguez's family in their prayers and to offer financial support where possible. That appeal reflects the practical side of grief that follows a sudden death, especially when it is tied to a disaster that has already strained families and communities across Venezuela. It is a reminder that public condolences often sit beside very private costs, from funerals to the long, expensive business of trying to make sense of loss.earthquake.
Rodriguez's pageant profile had made her a familiar name in beauty contest circles, but the response to her death has focused less on competition and more on remembrance. Miss Grand International's statement was short and formal, yet the wording made clear that the organisation saw her loss as part of the wider suffering caused by the earthquake. Miss Grand Florida took a slightly warmer tone, but the message was the same, a life cut short and a community left trying to respond in the only way it could.
Search Efforts And Public Reaction
Other reports said the search for Rodriguez and Castro continued for days before their bodies were recovered, with family members and supporters using fundraising pages and social posts to help locate them. One family statement quoted in those reports said they had been found 'one beside the other, together until the very end'. The phrasing was stark, and not in a way that needs much embellishment.
What has made the story travel so quickly online is the collision of two things that rarely sit comfortably together, a beauty pageant name that people recognise and a natural disaster that has killed hundreds. The official pageant statements were enough to put Rodriguez's death beyond dispute, and the broader quake toll gives the story its grim backdrop. Somewhere in all of that is a family dealing with the simplest and hardest task of all, burying the dead.
