‘A bitter pill’
U.S. man on anniversary ID’d in Barcelona
CALIFORNIA MAN Jared Tucker, a swimming pool installer who was visiting Barcelona on a one-year wedding anniversary trip, is among the dead in the city’s horrific terror attack, his father told the Daily News.
“We just got the text — Jared’s body was identified at the morgue by his wife,” grieving dad Daniel Tucker, 76, told The News, his voice cracking with emotion.
“It’s just something we really just don’t understand. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Everybody loved him. He’s been a partner working with me since he was 16 years old. We have a pool business, and he’s been right there the whole time. All our customers love him. All people love him,” he added.
“This is just a really bitter pill to swallow. I don’t know how we’re going to do it. We’re in shock. We can’t comprehend what happened.”
He said his 42-year-old son, and his wife Heidi Nunes, 40, traveled to Europe to celebrate one year of marriage.
“It was their first big trip together, the first time they went to Europe,” Tucker said. “But Jared dropped out of sight right after the terror attack. They were doing everything to find him. We got a lot of people involved to see if they could find him. There were no reports until this morning. She was taken over to the consulate.”
Tucker was one of 14 people killed when a terrorist plowed a van through the crowds on the popular tourist promenade Las Ramblas.
Nunes told NBC News she was at the tree-lined area with her husband, but they separated briefly so he could find a restroom.
“Next thing I know there’s screaming, yelling,” Nunes explained. “I got pushed inside the souvenir kiosk and stayed there hiding while everybody kept running by screaming, and then the police eventually made us evacuate.”
She tried in vain to locate Tucker in the chaos, then searched for him at the U.S. Embassy, the Red Cross and local hospitals.
The U.S. State Department has confirmed an American died in the attack but did not immediately release the person’s name.
Tucker’s niece set up a Go Fund Me page to collect money for his funeral expenses and the three daughters he leaves behind.
“Jared Tucker was a loving father of three beautiful daughters and a husband to Heidi Nunes Tucker. He was taken from this world during the recent terrorist attack in Barcelona,” the page said.
“Pray for Jared and his family, pray for Barcelona,” it read. “But most importantly pray that we can someday rid ourselves of the hate that takes our loved ones before their time.”