Vigil for Trenton Murder Victim
Brux
By Jeremy Ashley
The Intelligencer
CFB TRENTON - As the warm, flickering light of a candle filled her tired
eyes, a tear slipped down the cheek of Kathleen MacVicar's great aunt.
"I do believe her life on this earth was over... God now has better plans
for her in a better place," Ruth Smith whispered before being overcome with
emotion.
Smith was joined by a number of other family members, as well as almost 300
area residents to remember the murdered young woman during a service at Our
Lady Peace St. Clement-Astra Chapel before walking to a candlelight vigil
held where her body was found, on the edge of Middleton Park.
Nineteen-year-old MacVicar's stabbed and sexually assaulted body was found
by a base employee in a wooded area of Middleton Park, just south of Curtis
Road on CFB Trenton property on the morning of June 15, nearly three days
after she was last seen alive in the Dufferin/Creswell area of Trenton Ward.
Police have no suspects in the case and are calling upon the public for
assistance.
"So very hard, the way she went," said Smith, who now resides in Cambridge.
"If it were a car accident or she had drowned, I think it would have been
easier. They'll always wonder... was she crying out for help... her body was
bruised so badly..."
Smith was accompanied by her sister-in-law, Carla Smith, who recalled fond
memories of the 19-year-old Nova Scotia native.
"She grew up in Glace Bay with her cousins and had only been down (in the
Quinte area) for a couple of months," she said.
MacVicar, she added, was "a typical teenager... she was very loving,
thoughtful. She came from a very loving, big family... we all loved her
dearly. The entire family is very, very devastated, it is so hard on all of
us."
Ending just after sunset, a long line of people spilled out of the church
service, each holding thin white candles.
Led by a military escort, family members joined the crowd as they walked
from the church, south on RCAF Road and east on Curtis Road to where
MacVicar's body was found.
For many of MacVicar's relatives, the vigil was the first time they had
visited the scene, which is at the edge of a thick line of trees and
underbrush.
Flickering in a light breeze, dozens of candles scattered shadows from the
area as people gathered around the family.
Grounds on the edge of underbrush were quickly piled high with floral
bouquets, cards and candles as people prayed, cried and remembered.
At the church service, Carla Smith quietly read a message to those gathered:
a poem written by Tiffany Andrews, who grew up alongside MacVicar in Glace
Bay.
A wave of silence washed over the packed chapel as she began. Many were
forced to listen from the foyer because of a lack of roo"Close your eyes and
imagine a joyful, energetic little girl," she began, struggling to hold back
tears.
Voice shaking and at times trembling, she forced herself to move through the
letter.
"One of her favourite activities was swimming... her heart and soul always
leaned toward the water. If God could have given her fins, she would have
swam like a dolphin."
"She was always the one with the big heart... she even sold her car, that
she worked so hard for, to her brother for four dollars.
"Now open your eyes and realize that this beautiful person actually
existed... was taken away before her time and will forever be in the hearts
of those who love her."
Touching on the many facets of MacVicar's life in Nova Scotia - her family,
friends and pride of employment at Tim Hortons in Glace Bay - the message
concluded by saying she "will never be forgotten, her memory will out-live
us all."
Smith added MacVicar "will be sadly missed by her parents, Roddie and
Colleen, brother Logan, and sister Shealeigh, Papa and Nanny MacVicar, Papa
and Nanny Ford, and her many aunts and uncles and cousins.
"On behalf of her family, a thank you goes out to the Trenton police
department along with the people of Trenton for all of their help and
support."