Victims in the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting

 

Family and friends are mourning the lost.For some, the last words they shared with loved ones were frantic texts: “He’s coming, I’m going to die.” For others, there were no last words, only waiting for the dreaded confirmation of an unthinkable reality: that their son, daughter, spouse or partner had been killed in the rain of gunfire at Pulse nightclub, where a gunman killed 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Below are glimpses into these lives that were cut short so suddenly in the early hours of June 12. We are updating our list with stories as we learn more about these men and women.

Sotomayor worked as a national brand manager for ALandCHUCK.travel, a travel agency that primarily serves the gay community, according to his social media profiles.

Sotomayor, a Sarasota resident, was revered as an industry leader. He had a passion for travel and had recently organized and attended the first-ever gay cruise to Cuba in April, his boss Al Ferguson told the Orlando Sentinel.

“What I will say, over and over again, [is] he was a person who said, ‘We cannot be afraid,'” Ferguson told the Orlando Sentinel. “I know his friends are going to be the exact same way. … We are not going to be afraid.”