The family of one of the victims killed in the terror attack in New Orleans had their worst fears realized after he failed to answer to their frantic text messages.
Matthew Tenedorio’s cousins became concerned the morning after the New Year’s attack because he was unresponsive even though the 25-year-old was scheduled to work at the Sugar Bowl that night.
‘That’s when the bad feelings started happening where you just knew something wasn’t right,’ Zach Colgan told WBRZ. ‘He went there with all of his friends, and all of his friends are back but he’s not back.’
Tenedorio had dinner with his parents Cathy and Louis before heading to Bourbon Street against his parents’ advice.
‘We had dinner and we did fireworks outside, and just laughing and hugging each other and telling each other we loved each other,’ his grieving mom said, adding that they had tried to dissuade him from going into the city.
‘They don’t think about risk,’ she said.
Officials have not yet released the names of the 14 people killed in the New Orleans New Year’s Day truck attack, but nine victims have been identified by their families.
Matthew Tenedorio, 25, was killed in the New Orleans terror attack on New Year’s Day
Auburn University 2023 graduate Drew Dauphinalso also died in the attack. He was a supplier process engineer at the American Honda Motor Company in Birmingham
Officials have not yet released the names of the 14 people killed in the New Orleans New Year’s Day truck attack, but nine victims have been identified by their families
A former college football star, a high school senior, a father-of-two and young mother are among the victims who died when Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, deliberately drove into pedestrians with an ISIS flag attached to his car.
Shamsud Din Jabbar, 42, drove a white Ford SUV into pedestrians ringing in 2025 in New Orleans’ French Quarter Wednesday around 3.15am local time
Tiger Bech, 28, Ni’kyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, Reggie Hunter, 37, Nicole Perez, 27, Matthew Tenedorio, University of Alabama freshman Kareem Badawi and Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, lost their lives in the senseless attack in the early hours of News Year’s Day in the French Quarter.
Gauthreaux’s family had been frantically sharing posts to social media that he was missing in the aftermath of the attack, before revealing he was found dead at a hospital.
Bech, who played football for Princeton University, was taken to a New Orleans area hospital after being struck by the vehicle. He was placed on life support until his family arrived, Kim Broussard, the athletic director at St. Thomas More Catholic High School, told KLFY.
Dedeaux, who was known to her family as Cheyenne, ran toward the street into the path of the speeding truck after she, her cousin and friend panicked when gunfire rang out.
Father-of-two Hunter, of Baton Rouge, also died after he decided to go to Bourbon Street to ring in 2025 after a shift at work, his cousin Shirell Jackson told NOLA.com.
Billy DiMaio, 25, was another of the attack’s victims. He was a New York City-based account executive for the media company Audacy
Hubert Gauthreaux’s family had been frantically sharing posts to social media that he was missing in the aftermath of the attack, before revealing he was found dead at a hospital
Reggie Hunter, 37, (left). Nicole Perez, 27, (right)
Meanwhile Perez, who was described as ‘a great mother’, was out with her friends for the holiday when the truck hit her. She was taken to University Hospital where she later died.
Billy DiMaio, 25, was another of the attack’s victims. He was a New York City-based account executive for the media company Audacy and was in New Orleans to celebrate New Year’s Eve and see friends who planned to go to the Sugar Bowl.
Auburn University 2023 graduate Drew Dauphinalso died in the attack. He was a supplier process engineer at the American Honda Motor Company in Birmingham, Alabama, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Authorities finished processing the scene of the attack Thursday morning, removing the last of the bodies. Bourbon Street — famous worldwide for music, open-air drinking and festive vibes — reopened for business by early afternoon.
On the same block where the attack took place, trombone player and lifelong New Orleanian Jonas Green said it was important for his band to be out there the day after the violence.
Ni’kyra Cheyenne Dedeaux, 18, also lost her life in the attack
Tiger Bech, 28, of Lafayette, Louisiana, died in the horrific New Orleans terror attack on Wednesday
Alabama freshman Kareem Badawi was also identified by his family as a fatal victim
The Sugar Bowl college football game between Notre Dame and Georgia, which was postponed by a day in the interest of national security, was played Thursday evening.
The FBI has continued to hunt for clues about Jabbar but, a day into its investigation, the agency said it was confident he was not aided by anyone else in the attack.
It was the deadliest IS-inspired assault on U.S. soil in years, laying bare what federal officials have warned is a resurgent international terrorism threat. It also comes as the FBI and other agencies brace for dramatic leadership upheaval, and likely policy changes, after President-elect Donald Trump’s administration takes office.
Christopher Raia, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division, stressed there was no indication of a connection between the New Orleans attack and the explosion Wednesday of a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks outside Trump’s Las Vegas hotel.
The New Orleans attack plans also included the placement of crude bombs in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage, officials said. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.
