LAFAYETTE, Calif. — A Northern California man who was spending his first wedding anniversary overseas was among those killed in a deadly truck attack in Barcelona, Spain, his family said Friday.
Jared Tucker's sister, Tina Luke, told The Associated Press that Tucker, 42, and his wife, Heidi Nunes-Tucker, 40, were celebrating their honeymoon in Barcelona after saving up for the trip. She said they married a year ago.
"We just got the text — Jared's body was identified at the morgue by his wife," Daniel Tucker told the Daily News of New York. "It's just something we really just don't understand. I don't know what else to say."
Nunes-Tucker told NBC News that they were having drinks at a patio when her husband said he was going to the bathroom.
"Next thing I know, there's screaming, yelling," she said. "I got pushed inside the souvenir kiosk and stayed there hiding while everybody kept running by screaming."
Jared Tucker worked with his father at a pool business since he was 16, Daniel Tucker said.
"He's been right there the whole time. All our customers love him. All people love him," the father told the newspaper.
Betty Needham, who works at one of the companies Daniel Tucker owns, said she's known the younger Tucker for a few years.
"It's a big loss here for us," she said. "He's leaving a big hole here. He was a great guy. Once you meet him, you'd never forget him. He's always got a smile on his face. He's got a big smile and a big heart."
The State Department confirmed earlier Friday that at least one American was killed and one injured in the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, Spain.
In remarks to State Department staff on Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed the death and expressed condolences to the victim's family. He said diplomats from the U.S. consulate in Barcelona are working with local authorities to identify victims and provide assistance to other Americans in need.
The department had said earlier that Spanish authorities had reported that there were still "several" casualties who had not been identified.
Diana Gray, a neighbor of the Tucker couple in Lafayette, California, told the AP that they were happy, loving and had a lot of friends.