Grief-stricken community 'looking after each other,' following Athena Strand's death
WISE COUNTY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Athena Strand's hometown of Paradise, Texas is a tight-knit community of about 500 people. And her death has stunned and saddened not just her city but all Wise County.
Pink was 7-year-old Athena Strand's favorite color - and those who knew her say that matched her bright personality.
"I had never seen her not smiling. She was always very happy," said Phil Erickson, Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church Cottondale.
So a grieving community draped its trees and streets - and themselves - in pink, for Athena and her family. Kayla McConnell couldn't find a pink shirt anywhere in Paradise, so she bought a white one and dyed it.
"We're all there with them, and we will support them, and we will remember Athena every time we even see pink," she said.
The news of Athena's kidnapping and death, allegedly at the hands of a contract FedEx driver, seemed unimaginable in Paradise, where children grow up playing in their front yards.
"We live a mile down the road. My kids were playing outside when she was taken. It does change everything. You never expected something like this," said resident Rachale Taylor.
"Having it happen here so close to home and thinking about how it just could have been any one of our kids, it definitely makes you think," said Erickson.
But they said they also hold each other up here, and that outpouring - symbolized with the color pink - is what they said sustains them right now.
"There's been just people from all over, and that's been amazing," said Charles Pugh, Pastor at First Baptist Church Cottondale.
"We're all tight and look after one another," said Wise County resident Jim Lambert.
There will be a vigil Monday night at the Wise County Courthouse and then one Tuesday at the church. Thousands of people are expected to attend tomorrow night at 6 p.m.