(Adds quotes, details on one of the victims)
By Jarrett Renshaw
Orlando, Fla., June 12 (Reuters) - A day before the Orlando,
Florida, nightclub massacre, Luis Vielma, 22, updated his
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) profile with a picture of himself standing with young
people in front of a Disney castle and a caption that read:
"True friends who become family."
By Sunday night, his profile was altered to "Remember Luis
Vielma" after police confirmed he was among 50 people killed in
the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
As authorities frantically tried to notify all the
relatives, the Orlando Police Department began publishing the
names of victims on a city website on Sunday afternoon.
Among them was Vielma, who worked part-time as a rides
attendant at the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey theme
park ride, while studying physical therapy at Seminole State
College, according to his Facebook profile.
Others included Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34, Stanley Almodovar
III, 23, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20, Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22,
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36, and Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22.
Police killed the gunman, who was identified as Omar Mateen,
29, a New York-born Florida resident and U.S. citizen who was
the son of immigrants from Afghanistan, and officials were
probing evidence suggesting the attack may have been inspired by
Islamic State militants.
The sheer number of deaths appeared to overwhelm officials
in Orlando, a city of 270,000 people. Orlando police asked
mourners to hold off on vigils as they were understaffed to
police them.
"We understand our community is grieving and that vigils are
being planned but PLEASE hold off on vigils - they represent a
serious strain on our limited resources, which we need to
dedicate to law enforcement and victims," the city posted on its
official Twitter handle.
Sotomayor was a marketing manager at a Sarasota,
Florida-based gay-themed travel company. His boss, Al Ferguson,
said Sotomayor's partner was outside the nightclub putting
something in the car when the shots rang out.
He got a text from Sotomayor telling him he was safe in the
bathroom and not to come back into the club. Sotomayor texted
again 20 minutes later to say he was OK. That was the last his
partner heard from him, Ferguson said.
Sotomayor was a legend in the industry, Ferguson said. He
booked tours for entertainer and drag queen RuPaul and put
together the first gay cruise to Cuba last year. He was going to
announce a second trip on Sunday, but was killed.
"Anyone who booked gay cruises knew Sotomayor," Ferguson
told Reuters. "He was a great man."
In an Instagram post published on Sunday, RuPaul's Drag Race
judge Michelle Visage called Sotomayor "a joy."
"I loved you on so many levels. You were SO SO special and
will never be forgotten," she wrote. "I promise you that."
Neighbors of Almodovar, a 23-year-old pharmacy technician,
said his parents had recently moved back to Puerto Rico after
his mother became ill with cancer. He was the youngest in the
family.
The Facebook page for Almodovar, of Clermont, Florida, was
flooded with shocked tributes. "We'll miss you Stanley. You made
an impact on everyone that you came around. A good person and
friend," wrote Mark Nielsen of Deltona, Florida.
Images posted to Almodovar's wall over the years showed him
socializing with dozens of friends.
"I will always remember you," Jeannette Molina wrote. "Your
beautiful personality and spirit."
(Additinal reporting by Amy Tennery and Angela Moon in New
York; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney)