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Mike and Wendy Lamana left Baton Rouge less than 12 hours after American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon Tuesday. They were driving to where their son, Michael Scott "Scotty" Lamana, had surely died, though there was no body.

Lamana, 31, was a U.S. Navy lieutenant who worked in the Pentagon. He had been a 1992 graduate of Louisiana State University and then joined the military.

By Tuesday afternoon, as the Pentagon remained engulfed in flames and rescue workers publicly admitted that no survivors seemed likely to be found, Lamana's parents hopped in their car, bound for Washington D.C., according to relative Ronnie Chatelain.

They were sure their son hadn't survived, Chatelain said, because authorities had told them he was unaccounted for, and they knew Lamana would call to reassure them if he could.

Profile courtesy of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.