Community mourns loss
The grieving community of Wise County has paid several tributes to Athena Strand, a seven-year-old girl abducted and killed last week.
Bikers dressed in the brightest shade of pink and blaring Frozen’s Let It Go rode their motorcycles for twenty minutes on Monday in honour of Athena.
Her classmates, also dressed in pink, waved their little hands at the bikers, who raised nearly $9,000 for the grieving family.
The abduction and murder of Athena on 30 November allegedly by 31-year-old FedEx driver Tanner Horner rocked the local community since the early stages of the investigation, with hundreds of people helping police canvass the area near Athena’s home shortly after she disappeared.
The little girl’s body was found six miles away from her Paradise home on Friday, after Horner led authorities to the location.
Police said that Horner confessed to snatching the little girl before killing her within an hour of her abduction. He faces charges of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping.
No motive has been given and Mr Horner is not believed to have any connection to the little girl.
