Remains of Allen mass shooting victim returned to family in Venezuela
ALLEN, Texas - The remains belonging to one of the victims of the Allen mass shooting are now with his family months after he died.
A non-profit stepped in to help out after a drawn-out ordeal.
After three months of waiting, Santos Cumana is tightly clinging to a box containing cremated remains of his son, Elio Cumana-Rivas. The 32-year-old from Venezuela was one of eight people shot and killed at the Allen Premium Outlets in May.
Anita Busch and Paola Bautista work for Victims First. The non-profit helps families of mass shooting victims and survivors move forward and try to keep faith.
"I mean, honestly, can you imagine in your own lives if you couldn’t get your child back? It’s horribly stressful," Busch said. "Don’t let evil take away your faith in God because that’s what it wants to do."
Last month, Victims First learned Cumana-Rivas’ family in Venezuela had still not received his ashes due to miscommunication and logistical issues with a North Texas funeral home.
The non-profit was able to get the ashes to Cumana-Rivas’ father.
"We paid for the transportation. We paid for Santos to actually fly from Venezuela to Colombia so he could pick up the ashes in Colombia," Busch explained. "The United States has no relationship, or a very strained relationship, with Venezuela. So there’s no embassy, and there’s no diplomat to really help in the process."
Victims First is made up of families of mass shooting victims and even survivors.
Bautista was wounded during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. 61 people were killed.
"It changed my whole life. It took my independence, big time," she said.
Bautista’s experience is leading her to help in any way she can. Most recently, that was helping a hurting father grip to a sense of closure.
"I was meant to do this. I was meant to help," she said.
Victims First has a link on their website for surviving victims of the Allen mass shooting to register to receive financial help.