LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Family members of the 29-year-old who went missing Sunday morning confirmed he is the person who died after crashing his car off the Gene Snyder.
Friends and family said Duong Nguyen, known as Yo, was a stranger to no one and was the life of the party.
That is how family members wanted Yo to be remembered.
Duong Nguyen, known as Yo, died in a car crash near Bardstown Road. (Submitted photo)
"He had a contagious smile, a contagious laugh," Trelyn Overall, a friend, said. "He always lit up the room. I'll just never forget the times that we had. He always kept everyone together, kind of like the glue."
His friends said Yo was the one who hosted Friendsgiving and Christmas parties.
"Getting everybody together for the cabins, the boys trip at the lake, snowboarding," Overall said. "Yeah, he was just the glue."
Saturday was the last time they were all together.
"I was, I was with him that night," Overall choked back tears. "Uh yeah, I was with him that night," Overall said.
They said it wasn't like him not to call or text, so by Sunday they knew something was wrong.
"The only thing we really had to go by was that he never came home," Overall said.
His friends said his phone pinged in the area.
Since the 29-year-old went missing, Alan and Trey along with dozens of others went out looking for him.
"People were literally driving by and he was out there for maybe a couple of days and no one knew he was there," Alan Tran, his cousin, said.
Duong Nguyen, known as Yo, died in a car crash near Bardstown Road. (Submitted photo)
The driver was killed. Family members confirmed that driver was Yo.
"It's hard to find the words to describe this situation," Tran said. "That's how I'm feeling. That's how a lot of people are feeling in this community right now."
Even after he's gone, they said he's still the glue keeping people together.
"He just had so many friends and made so much of an impact on so many people's lives and just to see that all gone, it really shatters a community like a lot," Tran said. "It really shatters the community."
His joyful personality has kept friends and family going during this heartbreaking loss.
"He would want us to be like that," Tran said. "He would, if this happened to anybody else, he would want to kind of like lift us up and think only about the good times."
His family is still working out funeral arrangements. There is a fundraising effort online to help with the cost.
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
