San Bernardino Massacre Victims: Family Men, An ISIS-Fighting Jew, And More

The country is relieved at the death of Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and and his 27-year-old wife, Tashfeen Malik — who died in a police shootout after killing 14 people and wounding 17 more at the Inland Regional Center. The families of the twisted couple's victims, however, have only begun to mourn the loss of their loved ones. Now The ENQUIRER begins honoring the lives of the innocent people who were caught up in the depraved duo's blood lust.

Many of Farook's victims were co-workers at the San Bernardino Health Department. 37-year-old Michael Wetzel left behind six children. His three oldest are with his ex-wife Amy, while the others were born to his wife Renee. Mrs. Wetzel originally reached out for support when the initial reports came in of the attack, posting via social media: "Please pray. My husband was in a meeting and a shooter came in." It would take eight hours before she learned of her husband's fate, and posted a Bible quote on Facebook: "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I."

This 58-year-old father of two had joined the San Bernardino County of Environmental Health Department this past September — which put him on the path of being shot dead by Farook and Malick at the work event at the Inland Regional Center. Tragically, he had just returned to the workplace after having earlier retired from a similar position in 2010. Dottie Merki had worked with Damian at the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health, and told the local Press-Enterprise newspaper: "He was an amazing guy. We'll all miss him."

As another of Farook's doomed co-workers, Nicholas Thalasino, 52, may have been singled out for being Jewish and outspoken. His family isn't surprised, however, that Nicholas had a cordial relationship with Farood. "He had worked with him," his wife told the New York Times. "He had talked about him. Nothing negative" — adding: "My husband was very outspoken about ISIS and all of these radicalized Muslims. If he would've thought that somebody in his office was like that, he would've said something."

As seen in this picture from Nicholas' Facebook page, the victim was already concerned about Islamic attacks on Jews — captioning this photo from Australia: "Church signs like this are evidence of why so many people are choosing to leave the church. Parramatta Mission church sign says: 'The best way to defeat the Islamic State is by befriending a Muslim.' (Indeed it is, especially right before he is about to cut off your head)"

Daniel Kaufman's death is another murder that might be directly related to the Inland Regional Center being the center of a terrorist attack. The 42-year-old worked at the Coffee N More located at the facility for the disabled, and trained patients there. He was also proudly out as a homosexual, and sported rainbow earrings that signified Gay Pride. His boyfriend, Ryan Reyes, told the Los Angeles Times that he couldn't confirm that Daniel was among the casualties until Thursday morning. Daniel had been working at Inland Regional for about five years.