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About 50 people clasped hands, bowed their heads and remembered Sofia Silva for her sweet, affectionate nature during a short service outside Courtland High School this morning.
"We gather in this misty morning ... to dedicate this tree to her memory," Principal C. Hampton Gray told the solemn gathering of family, friends and teachers. Many were wearing small gold angels pinned to purple ribbons, Sofia's favorite color.
Sofia, a junior at Courtland, disappeared from the front porch of her Oak Grove Terrace home Sept. 9. Her cloth-wrapped body was found Oct. 14 in the Sealston area of King George County. No arrests have been made in the case.
As the Courtland Advanced Choir sang "It's a Bright and Beautiful Morning," members of the school's Student Council Association tied a giant purple ribbon around a newly planted maple tree and handed a check to Sofia's mother, Phyliss Silva.
"The check comes from the Courtland family and community as a token of our love for you and Sofia, and to defray some of the financial burden you may have experienced," Gray said.
Silva was touched.
"It means that Sofia was loved and cared for by so many people in so many places," she said after the 15-minute ceremony. "I cannot express how much I appreciate that."
Tenth-grader Sarah Markham, who lived next door to Sofia, remembered the curly-haired teen as a sweet person who was bubbly and could make you laugh.
"She was like a sister," Sarah said. "Now she's gone. It's hard to let go."
Another friend, 10th grader Rebekka Zubyk, remembers Sofia for her upbeat attitude, her warm smile and how she always used to give her a hug when she said hello.
"And her hair," Rebekka said. "No one had hair like hers."
She's put Sofia's picture in her room and visited the family. Many of her schoolmates, however, seem to have gotten over Sofia's death, she said.
"That hurts me because I was like her best friend."
Sofia's death has made students and parents more aware of how vulnerable they are, Gray said after the ceremony.
"This is not something that just happens on TV," he said. "It happened in our community. I've seen a heightened awareness of the need for security for these children."
Parents have called the school to make sure a teacher or administrator is on duty during after-school activities, and to make sure that their child doesn't leave with someone else.
"It's the not knowing that's the worst of this," Gray said. "No one knows who perpetrated this horrible act. Is it someone in this school or right off campus in the community?"
