Athena Strand's mom posts heartbreaking video of younger daughter sobbing and 'begging for sissy'
PARADISE, TEXAS: The abduction and killing of Athena Strand, 7, on November 30, has left the whole community in shock and grief. Thousands of people have gathered to pay tribute to the slain little girl, who was abducted from her bedroom in her father’s house, where she was staying with him and her stepmother. Her mother, Maitlyn Presley Gandy, 26, has broken her silence on the matter and slammed the killer while thanking the authorities who helped find her daughter's body. However, it was her most recent post that left everyone heartbroken.
Gandy posted a video of her younger daughter sobbing as she misses her older sister. The video was posted on Facebook, three days after the corpse of the child was found. Daily Mail reports that the only suspect in the case, the FedEx driver Tanner Lynn Horner, has been charged with the murder.
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'Mommy is broken without you': Athena Strand's mom pays heartbreaking tribute to slain little girl
Gandy explains that the video was taken days before Athena went missing, while she was staying with her father. Gandy says that her younger daughter always cries when her sister is away for too long- at the time of the video, she told her daughter that Athena would be back home in Oklahoma with them very soon. The video was captioned, “These are my girls,” adding, “That video of Rye (Athena’s sister) begging for her sissy was Sunday 11/27 when we thought sissy would only be gone a few days. I kept telling her ‘it’s okay, we will see sissy soon,’ not knowing how twisted our lives would become.”
She then added, “I took it because she does this anytime she thinks sissy is going somewhere without her. She cried for thirty minutes straight in the car until she cried herself to sleep. This monster has now extended those feelings for my youngest daughter indefinitely. Athena’s cousins on my side of the family had to be told she’s never coming home again. Athena’s step sister is also aware and she feelings aren’t mine to discuss, however I will say it’s heartbreaking to know her reaction. Her name is Athena Presley Monroe Strand and she is loved.”
She also went on to take a moment and thank the law enforcement and people across the country for wearing pink as a way of paying tribute to her daughter, who loved all things pink and sparkly.
People reports that Strand’s grandfather Mark had also posted his own thoughts following the death of his little granddaughter- but he was much more forgiving, …I want 5 minutes alone in a cell with the psycho that took our Athena away from us, but there's a soft gentle voice in the back of my head telling me I need to forgive him,” he said and then added, “Hate is a powerful force that will take root in your soul. God wants to protect us all from that hate. Hate is the gateway for the Evil we see growing in the world today." A GoFundMe page has also been created to support the family.