Wife of Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse victim remembers father of three as always 'fighting for us'

The heartbreaking story of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland gets more tragic as the grieving wife of a victim reveals how wonderful a father he was.

A 985-foot cargo ship crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The collision caused most of the bridge to collapse into the frigid waters of the Patapsco River below.

The tragic accident likely took the lives of six construction workers who are still missing days later despite rescue attempts. One of the victims is Jose Lopez – a father of three.

Lopez was operating a concrete mixer truck early Tuesday morning when the cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Isabel Franco, the wife of Lopez, expressed her sadness about losing her husband.

Franco told WJZ-TV, "I feel bad. Only God knows how hard my heart aches. Maybe he was desperate, trying to escape."

Knowing that her 35-year-old husband is likely gone forever, Franco still hopes to recover the body of her husband.

"I feel bad a little bit still because I want the body," she said with tears rolling down her face. "His family is desperate to see him too."

The couple had one child together, but he was a loving father to all three of her children.

"They are sad," she said in Spanish. "They loved Jose."

"He had a good heart," Franco recalled. "He was a hard worker. He was always worried about his family too. He died but he was fighting for us always."

Franco said her husband moved to the United States 19 years ago from Guatemala.

Officials have categorized the collision as accidental.

Eight people were working at the time when the container ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Two were rescued.

Two bodies were recovered from the crash site in a red pickup truck on Wednesday.

Six construction workers are still missing, and the search has transitioned to a recovery mission at this time as they are presumed dead.

The other crash victims are Miguel Luna originally from El Salvador, 26-year-old Dorlian Cabrera from Guatemala, 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes from Mexico, 34-year-old Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval from Honduras, and a man from Mexico whose identity has not been released as of yet.

Maynor is survived by his wife and two children ages 17 and 5.

His brother, Martín Suazo Sandoval, said Maynor had a strong work ethic.

"He always told us that you had to triple your effort to get ahead," the brother explained. "He said it didn’t matter what time or where the job was, you had to be where the work was."

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