Christopher Leinonen, 32, was a Pulse with his friend Brandon Wolf, who sent a text to Leinonen's mother to say a shooting had occurred and her son was missing.
Christine Leinonen drove to Orlando at 4 a.m. from Polk County, southwest of the city. When she arrived, she began checking emergency rooms to find her son. She never did.
"These are nonsensical killings of our children," she said, sobbing. "They're killing our babies!"
She said Wolf survived by hiding in a bathroom and running out as the bullets flew.