The fiancé of NBC reporter Eliana Moreno, who died in a Los Angeles helicopter crash, has shared an emotional tribute to the woman he planned to marry.
Robert Barrientos, 47, made his first public statement since Moreno, 38, was killed when the news helicopter she was traveling in crashed in Los Angeles.
“I don’t have the words to express the pain I feel in my heart from losing my love Eliana this way,” Barrientos said.
He opened his tribute by thanking everyone who had offered him “love and prayers” after the crash, which also claimed the lives of pilot George Marciniw, 70, and bystander Gutierrez Mejia, 29.
Barrientos described Moreno as a woman who “loved and was passionate about what she did.”
The couple would sometimes joke that her work was her “favorite place.” Still, they had hoped to retire together one day and move to Tennessee, where they planned to “have some land and care for some animals.”
Although those plans will never come to pass, Barrientos said Moreno’s memory would “live in my heart and soul forever.”
“I know I’ve been truly blessed to have experienced the love I shared with her in this life,” he wrote. “Eliana was simply amazing – loving, kind, compassionate, giving, intelligent and extremely silly. If you knew Eliana, she had the best sense of humor.”
Robert Barrientos, 47, remembered his fiancée, NBC reporter Eliana Moreno, 38, who died following a helicopter crash on September 15
The couple announced their engagement on Facebook last October and had dreamed of building a future together with land and animals
The dog-loving couple were inseparable. “My heart aches for her return and wish I could hold her in my arms and tell her I love her,” Barrientos wrote on Instagram
“She loved her 2 dogs Penrose and Fullerton more than anything in this world,” Barrientos continued. “I miss Eliana with every part of my body and soul. My heart aches for her return and wish I could hold her in my arms and tell her I love her.”
Barrientos ended his message by thanking his support network, including his two sons and Moreno’s family, for “showing me so much love during the hardest time of my life.”
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said Moreno died from blunt force trauma. Thermal injuries and the inhalation of combustion products also contributed to her death, according to the medical examiner.
Moreno and Marciniw were aboard an NBC helicopter when it crashed shortly before 7 p.m. on September 15 near the scene of a deadly bus collision in Los Angeles.
The NewsChopper4 was flying between two warehouses near the intersection of Nordhoff Street and DeSoto Avenue. The aircraft was covering the area where an SUV had crashed into a bus earlier that evening when it suddenly lost altitude and plunged to the ground.
NBC reporter Eliana “Eli” Moreno, 38, died in the news helicopter crash
Moreno and pilot George Marciniw, 70, were identified as the two people aboard the aircraft when it crashed while covering a fatal bus collision
Flames rose from the wreckage and thick black smoke filled the sky at the crash site near Nordhoff Street and DeSoto Avenue in Chatsworth
Two people died in the bus crash, while six others were injured. Some of those hurt were reported to be in critical condition.
The chopper appeared to have crashed next to two shipping containers and several vehicles that were parked in the area, causing a massive blaze that threatened four vehicles nearby.
Moreno was a veteran aerial reporter for NBC4 Los Angeles and Telemundo, who had been flying in news choppers since 2010 – covering police pursuits, wildfires, traffic and major local events.
She began her career in the air after graduating from Chapman University in 2010, where she studied broadcast journalism and political science.
Moreno had worked at KCAL 9 and KCBS 2 before joining NBC and flying aboard NewsChopper4 around 2018 or 2019. Marciniw was an experienced pilot who had logged more than 14,000 hours in the helicopter.
The news helicopter was apparently reporting on a fatal Metro bus crash nearby
The beloved news reporter was passionate about her role and frequently posted pictures of herself out in the field on her Instagram account Eli in the Heli, including one captioned: ‘After working 76 hours since Sunday, I’m almost done! I can’t complain though because I have the best job in the world.’
She was due to soon marry Barrientos after the pair announced their engagement on Facebook last October.
Moreno and Barrientos had been together for at least three years, according to posts on her public Instagram account.
Although the reporter never publicly announced the start of their relationship, she did start subtly tagging father of two Barrientos in reels with her dogs in 2023.
She made a post in May praising him for running a half-marathon with her.
