58 lives, 58 stories
‘It’s just so senseless’
They were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, grandparents and grandchildren, lives tragically cut short. We remember the fallen in Las Vegas.
The massacre in Las Vegas killed 58 people and wounded 489 who were crowded together into one field, but those deaths have been felt across the entire continent.
The Clark County Coroner released the names of all 58 victims on Thursday. The list includes people from California to Massachusetts to the provinces of Canada. They range in age from 20 to 67. They were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, grandparents and grandchildren.
They worked in hospitals, police stations, schools, day care centers, restaurants and fishing boats. They were at the Route 91 Harvest festival to celebrate birthdays, wedding anniversaries and a shared love of music.
Here are all the victims of shooting:
HANNAH AHLERS
34 Beaumont, Calif.
The mother of three young children was with her husband of 17 years when she was killed. Her father-in-law, Dave Ahlers, said she was a stayat-home mom who dedicated herself to her children and her family. “She was beautiful inside and out, and loved life and people,” her brother, Lance Miller, told the ‘Redlands Daily Facts.’
HEATHER ALVARADO
35 Cedar City, Utah
When news spread that gunfire had broken out, the Cedar City Fire Department immediately sent crews to the home of Albert Alvarado, a seven-year member of the department. They knew his wife was at the concert. “This is part of our family,” Fire Chief Mike Phillips said.
DORENE ANDERSON
49 Anchorage
Anderson was at the concert with her husband, John. The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, where her husband is employed, issued a statement from the family: “She was the most amazing wife, mother and person this world ever had. We are so grateful and lucky for the time that we did have with her.”
CARRIE BARNETTE
34 Riverside, Calif.
Barnette bought a home last year and was working at the Pacific Wharf Café, a waterfront restaurant in the Disneyland companion park California Adventure. Friends and family described her as an upbeat, happy, animal-loving spirit who owned a basset hound and enjoyed country music.
JACK BEATON
54 Bakersfield, Calif.
Beaton was celebrating his 23rd wedding anniversary with his wife, Laurie. He told his wife to get on the ground and draped his body over hers to protect her when he was hit. He had just enough time to tell her he loved her.
STEVE BERGER
44 Minnesota Berger was celebrating his 44th birthday. His sister, Christine Moore, described her brother as a fun-loving, hard-working father of three.
CANDICE BOWERS
40 Garden Grove, Calif.
Bowers was a single mother of three who had recently adopted her youngest, a 2-year-old girl. “She stepped in without even blinking and took this infant into her home,” her aunt Michelle Bolks told ‘The Arizona Republic.’
DENISE BURDITUS
50 Martinsburg, W.Va.
Tony Burditus knew he’d met his match way back in high school. In the decades since, he and Denise had two children and four grandchildren, with a fifth on the way. “In 32 years, it grew stronger every day,” Tony Burditus told CNN.
SANDRA CASEY
34 Redondo Beach, Calif.
Casey, a Vermont native, was a special-education teacher at Manhattan Beach (Calif.) Middle School for nine years. District superintendent Michael Matthews said, “We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students.”
ANDREA CASTILLA
28 Huntington Beach, Calif. Castilla was holding hands with her sister when the bullets began to fly. According to a GoFundMe page set up by her aunt, Castilla attended the festival for her 28th birthday.
DENISE COHEN
58 Carpinteria, Calif.
When Jeff Rees thinks of his mother, one thing keeps coming to mind: her laugh. “When she would take me to the movies as a kid, I was just waiting to hear her laugh because it would just crack me up,” he said. She was in the crowd with her boyfriend, Derrick “Bo” Taylor, when the shooting started. By the time it was over, both were dead.
AUSTIN DAVIS
29 Riverside, Calif.
Davis was a pipe fitter with UA Local 364 who “had a bright future in our union,” said union member Daniel Kirkconnell. Aubree Hennigan wrote on Facebook that Davis was “the love of my life,” and “I will love you until my dying day baby.”
THOMAS DAY JR.
54 Corona, Calif.
Day traveled every year to the Coachella Valley for the country music festival Stagecoach with his four adult children. He coached a Little League team and had a Pittsburgh Steelers tattoo on his leg.
CHRISTIANA DUARTE
22 Torrance, Calif.
Duarte was visiting Las Vegas with her parents but went to the concert without them. “She was incredibly driven, passionate about everyone and everything,” said her friend, Maddie Noble.
STACEE ETCHEBER
50 Novato, Calif.
As people around them started falling to the ground, Etcheber watched as her husband, an officer with the San Francisco Police Department, rushed to help them. Then they got separated, and Etcheber was shot. “We’re angry, devastated, frustrated,” said Al Etcheber, Stacee’s brother-in-law.
BRIAN FRASER
39 La Palma, Calif.
Fraser, a vice president of sales at a mortgage company, had made his way closer to the stage to see Jason Aldean sing when he was shot. Fraser’s son, Nick Arellano, told ‘The Orange County Register’ that his father loved to hunt, deepsea fish, snowboard and attend his four children’s sporting events.
KERI GALVAN
31 Thousand Oaks, Calif.
A mother of three, Galvan attended the festival with her husband, Justin, and some friends as part of a weekend getaway. Galvan’s husband, a Marine who served in Iraq, “gave her CPR, but she was already gone,” said Galvan’s sister, Lindsey Poole.
DANA GARDNER
52 Grand Terrace, Calif.
Bob Dutton, the San Bernardino County (Calif.) assessor-recorder and county clerk, heaped praise on Gardner, a grandmother and 26-year employee of the county. “Known for her ‘can-do’ attitude and vibrant energy, Dana will be dearly missed,” he wrote.
ANGELA GOMEZ
20 Riverside, Calif.
At a candlelight vigil, Gomez’s father thanked the crowd for coming “to celebrate our angel.” She had spent months planning the Las Vegas trip with her boyfriend, Ethan Sanchez, who said “she was my life.”
ROCIO GUILLEN ROCHA
40 Eastvale, Calif. According to a GoFundMe page set up by a cousin, Guillen Rocha had four children, the youngest of whom is 1 month old. “She was a supermom, always working hard and juggling everything to be the best mom,” the page read.
CHARLESTON HARTFIELD
34 Las Vegas
On a trip to visit survivors of the shooting, President Trump honored Hartfield, a military veteran and Las Vegas police officer who was off duty at the concert but started escorting people out when the shooting began. “Officer Hartfield was a proud veteran, a devoted husband and loving father,” Trump said.
CHRIS HAZENCOMB
44 Camarillo, Calif.
As the clock approached 11 a.m. last Monday, Maryanne Hazencomb stood in a Las Vegas hospital room and gave the order to disconnect the ventilator keeping her son alive. Chris Hazencomb had shielded his best friend’s wife after the shooting started. The graduate of Thousand Oaks High School soon became the 58th victim in the shooting. “He’d go out on the limb for everybody,” his mother said.
JENNIFER TOPAZ IRVINE
42 San Diego
Irvine was holding hands with her friends, singing and dancing when the bullet struck her. Kyle Kraska, a longtime friend, said those final moments encapsulated who Irvine was: “She was an adventurous person, a very social, loving, caring, inclusive person.”
TERESA NICOL KI MURA
38 Placentia, Calif.
Known by her middle name, Nicol had a huge heart and infectious laugh, friends said. “She made you jealous of how much she loved life,” friend Ryan Miller wrote on a GoFundMe page.
JESSICA KLYMCHUK
34 Valleyview, Alberta, Canada
The mother of four was an educational assistant at St. Stephen's School in her hometown of roughly 2,000 people. Klymchuk got engaged in April to her boyfriend, Brent Irla, according to a Facebook status update.
CARLY KREIBAUM
33 Sutherland, Iowa
The electronic welcome sign for tiny Sutherland scrolled a painful message last week: “RIP Carly.” Kreibaum was remembered as a well-liked mother of two who married Chris Kreibaum. The couple lived on a farm.
RHONDA LEROCQUE
42 Tewksbury, Mass.
At first, Jason LeRocque thought his wife was ducking to avoid the gunfire. It turned out she was hit. Rhonda was a devout Jehovah’s Witness who met her husband at church and constantly volunteered for humanitarian missions.
VICTOR LINK
55 Orange County, Calif. Link was remembered by his son as a strong role model. “I love you so much Dad,” Christian Link wrote on Facebook. “Thank you so much for adopting me. Thank you so much for being the best dad any one son could ever have.”
JORDAN MCILDOON
23 Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada Jordan McIldoon was days away from turning 24 and a month shy of finishing his heavy-duty mechanic apprenticeship. He had a love of the outdoors “born within him,” said his parents, Alan and Angela McIldoon. “From a young age, he was fearless.”
KELSEY MEADOWS
28 Taft, Calif. Meadows was a substitute teacher at Taft Union High School, where she graduated in 2007. Principal Mary Alice Finn said she “was smart, compassionate and kind. She had a sweet spirit and a love for children.”
CALLA-MARIE MEDIG
28 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Medig loved her country music. She loved it so much she put a job promotion on hold. “She was promoted the day before she left for Vegas,” said Scott Collingwood, acting general manager at Moxie’s Grill and Bar in the West Edmonton Mall, where Medig worked.
JAMES “SONNY” MELTON
29 Big Sandy, Tenn. When the bullets started raining down, Melton’s first reaction was to protect his wife. “He saved my life,” Heather Melton said. “He grabbed me from behind and started running when I felt him get shot in the back.” The couple were married in June 2016.
PATRICIA MESTAS
67 Menifee, Calif. Mestas was the oldest person to die, but family members remember her for being young at heart. She had three children, eight grandchildren and a great-grandchild. She was always eager to make the most of a moment, Tom Smith, Mestas’ cousin, said in an interview with USA TODAY. “If there weren’t people, if there wasn’t music, if there wasn’t laughter, she would find it,” Smith said.
AUSTIN MEYER
24 Reno Meyer had recently moved to Reno to attend Truckee Meadows Community College. “Austin was a joy to be around,” Veronica Meyer, Austin’s sister, told KSBW-8 in Salinas, Calif.
ADRIAN MURFITT
35 Anchorage For Murfitt, the country music festival was a group celebration after a successful fishing season off Alaska. His sister, Shannon Gothard, said Murfitt played hockey “since he was just a little tot.” “He had this big, jovial, goofy laugh. He had a big heart.”
RACHAEL PARKER
33 Manhattan Beach, Calif. The first person anybody walking into the Manhattan Beach Police Department saw was Rachael Parker, a civilian employee who served as a records technician and the front desk clerk. “She was one of the faces of the department,” said Kristie Colombo, the department’s community affairs officer. “She was always funny and smart and bubbly.”
JENNIFER PARKS
36 Lancaster, Calif. Parks, an energetic kindergarten teacher and mother of two, was in her third year of teaching at Anaverde Hills Elementary School. “She was so proud to be a teacher, and her spirit was something to behold,” school officials said in a statement.
CARRIE PARSONS
31 Bainbridge Island, Wash. Parsons was a 2008 Arizona State University graduate who had recently gotten engaged in Hawaii. “She would always say ‘live, laugh, love,’ and she did that,” Laura Cooper, a childhood friend, told KOMO-TV in Seattle.
LISA PATTERSON
46 Lomita, Calif. Religion and her work with the Catholic Church defined Patterson, along with her experience coaching youth sports, said longtime friend Dennis Kim. He described Patterson and her husband, Robert, as beloved fixtures in their community.
JOHN PHIPPEN
56 Santa Clarita, Calif. Phippen, a home remodeler and dune-buggy enthusiast, died while shielding a girl who was a stranger, his son Travis Phippen told NBC’s ‘Today’ show. Phippen “gave his life for someone he didn’t even know,” his son said.
MELISSA RAMIREZ
26 Los Angeles Ramirez loved to surround herself with her extended family. She would routinely make trips home over weekends while in school, ‘The New York Times’ reported. “She always helped her parents, and just wanted to be there,” said her cousin, Fabiola Farnetti.
JORDYN RIVERA
21 La Verne, Calif. “I’m just in disbelief that someone so sweet and genuine that I got the privilege of knowing is now no longer here,” Jasmine Orozco said of her college friend. Rivera was in her fourth year at California State University, San Bernardino’s Health Care Management program, according to the university.
QUINTON ROBBINS
20 Henderson, Nev. Robbins was an avid fisherman and snowboarder who spent his final moments with his sister, according to social media posts. “He was the most kind and loving soul,” his aunt, Kilee Wells Sanders, wrote on Facebook. “Everyone who met him loved him.”
CAMERON ROBINSON
28 St. George, Utah Robinson worked for the city of Las Vegas as a legal records specialist, according to the state’s online transparency website. Friends remembered him on a GoFundMe.com page. “He loved to cook, entertain, run marathons, travel, go camping, boating, and the outdoors in general,” the page read.
TARA ROE
34 Alberta, Canada The mother of two young boys worked as an educational assistant and a model. Sophia Models International, where Roe worked for 10 years, lamented the loss of her “caring spirit.”
LISA ROMERO-MUNIZ
48 Gallup, N.M. Romero-Muniz spent all of her time around children as a counselor at elementary, middle school and high school levels for Gallup-McKinley County Schools. District superintendent Mike Hyatt said she “was an incredible loving and sincere friend, mentor and advocate for students.”
CHRIS ROYBAL
28 Aurora, Colo. Navy veteran Roybal survived combat in Afghanistan and had recently moved with his wife to Colorado for a new job. Co-worker Robert Alexander told the Associated Press that Roybal “had just great energy, full of enthusiasm for life.”
BRETT SCHWANBECK
61 Bullhead City, Ariz. Schwanbeck, a retired truck driver and grandfather, was remembered by relatives as an avid outdoorsman always willing to help a family member in need. His fiancée, Anna Orozco, hid in a dumpster until the gunfire stopped, niece Carla Van Hoosen reported on a GoFundMe page.
BAILEY SCHWEITZER
20 Bakersfield, Calif. Schweitzer was a former high school cheerleader and a receptionist with a smile that could light up a room, loved ones recalled. Facebook photos show her posing as a bridesmaid, throwing pompoms in the air and goofing around at her family’s race track, the Bakersfield Speedway.
LAURA SHIPP
50 Las Vegas Shipp moved to Las Vegas five years ago to be closer to her son, Corey, a 23-yearold Marine. The two were separated for a moment when the shooting broke out. Her brother, Steve Shipp, said Shipp’s son “just lost the most important person in his life.”
ERICK SILVA
21 Las Vegas Silva was working as a security guard in front of the stage, inside a barricade. When the shooting started, he helped concertgoers over the barricade so they could escape. Then he was shot. In an interview with KTNV, Silva’s mother wept, saying her son had “a bright future.”
SUSAN SMITH
53 Simi Valley, Calif. Within hours of learning about the shooting, visitors started dropping off flowers outside Vista Elementary School, where Smith was office manager. “She’s really the heart of the school,” said Jake Finch, a spokesman for the Simi Valley Unified School District.
BRENNAN STEWART
30 Las Vegas Friends and family of Stewart described him as always the life of the party. But when the gunfire started, another side came out. “Brennan was the kind of guy who always put others before himself,” a family statement read. “Brennan shielded his girlfriend and helped others to safety.”
DERRICK “BO” TAYLOR
56 Oxnard, Calif. The 29-year veteran of the Nevada Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation attended the concert with his girlfriend, Denise Cohen. Both died. Taylor was a lieutenant and commander of the state’s conservation center.
NEYSA TONKS
46 Las Vegas Tonks was a single mother of three who relished life, her 14-year-old son recalled. “She lived life like it was her last each day,” Greysen Tonks told CNN.
MICHELLE VO
32 Los Angeles Vo had an “independent, strong personality” and loved traveling, her brother-in-law Paul Warren said. The daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, she loved the U.S. and “took full advantage of the freedoms she was given.”
KURT VON TILLOW
55 Cameron Park, Calif. Attending the Las Vegas concert had become a tradition for the von Tillow family. “He love, love, loved his grandkids,” neighbor Brent Hitchings said.
WILLIAM WOLFE
42 Shippensburg, Pa. Wolfe’s aunt Dora Wolfe said the outpouring of support from the community has helped the family deal with their loss. “It’s just so senseless,” she said.