United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Martha D. Skeels, a supervisory clerk-typist at the Drug Enforcement Administration's Miami Regional Office, died on August 5, 1974, as a result of the collapse of the office building. She was 50 years of age at the time of her death.

Skeels began working for the Miami Regional Office of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in November 1972 as a supervisory word processor. Prior to joining BNDD, she was an accountant at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Montrose, New York, for two years; a contract accountant with the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C., for 14 years; and a secretary with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Coral Gables, Florida, for two years. She attended Duke University and the University of Virginia.

Seven DEA employees died in the collapse of the Miami Office at 10:22 a.m. on August 5, 1974. Investigators determined that poor construction materials significantly contributed to the collapse of the structure.

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