Several school districts across Texas are encouraging students to wear pink Monday in honor of Athena Strand, the 7-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted from her home and killed last week.
More than 20 school districts, including Paradise Independent School District in the county where Strand was lost, are participating in the act of remembrance, wearing the color her mother said she loved.
Wise County Judge JD Clark also asked residents to wear pink Monday in memory of Strand, saying in a Facebook post, “My heart is so heavy for Athena.”
Clark called on people to gather at the county courthouse Monday at 6:30 p.m. “to pray for Athena, her family, our first responders and our community.”
Strand disappeared from the driveway of her home in Wise County, Texas, on Wednesday, police said. After a countywide search, her body was recovered Friday night, according to Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin. Authorities believe she was killed within an hour of her alleged abduction, but the cause of her death is still under investigation, Akin said Friday.
The suspect, identified by authorities as a FedEx contract driver, is 31-year-old Tanner Lynn Horner, Akin said. According to authorities, he was reportedly making a delivery at Strand’s home when he disappeared.
Horner is being held in the Wise County Jail on murder and aggravated kidnapping charges, according to her website. Bond was set at $1.5 million, Akin said. It was unclear whether Horner had an attorney Friday.
Tammy Natusch, whose granddaughter Serina Young attends elementary school in nearby Haslet, Texas, made a shirt that says “Pink Out for Athena” for her granddaughter to wear to school.
“This horrible act was less than 20 (minutes) from my house,” Natus said.
Additional counselors will be available for students Monday at elementary and middle schools in the Paradise Independent School District, Superintendent Rod Townsend said in a statement on Facebook.
“We have lost a valued member of our student body,” Townsend said in the statement. “Athena Strand was tragically lost last week. This world will forever be different because she was not allowed to grow up and develop into the precious young lady she was meant to be.”
Strand’s mother, Maitlyn Presley Gandy, said in a Facebook post that her daughter was taken by “a sick, cruel monster for absolutely no reason.”
Gandhi described her daughter as a loving big sister who dreamed of growing up as a Viking princess with tattoos like her dad’s. She was “innocent, beautiful, kind, intelligent and just the most radiant, happy soul you could ever meet,” her mother wrote.
“I want everyone, every single person in this world, to know that this is my baby and my baby was taken away. I want everyone to know her face and her voice and what a wonderful person she is,” she wrote.
Authorities have not released a possible motive and said Horner did not know the family or the child, according to Akin.
In a statement to CNN last week, FedEx expressed its sympathy and directed further questions to law enforcement.
“Words cannot describe our shock and sadness at the reports surrounding this tragic event. First and foremost, our thoughts are with the family at this most difficult time and we continue to cooperate fully with the investigating authorities,” the statement said.
