Visiting Jessica Lunsford’s grave

Posted by Tammy on Mar 28, 2009 in crimes against children, Jessica's Law, Missing Children, sex offenders | 5 comments

I’ve waited all week to do this post, as I wanted to have the time to really sit down and think about what I want to say. I’m still not sure I have it right, but here goes.

On our trip last weekend, one of the things I wanted to do was to visit the grave of Jessica Lunsford. It’s a story I’ve followed closely, and always felt strongly about. Jessica was born the same year as my youngest daughter. I think that made it really real to me, that this could happen to anyone.

On our way to the hotel, we decided to try and find the area that Jessica lived in. We had found the address of John Couey online, and typed it into the TomTom. We found it easily….and found that the trailer had burned, basically, to the ground. After getting home, I did a bit of research and discovered that at the time of the fire, no one was living there and there was no power going to the trailer. How did it burn? I think someone decided that Jessica’s family should no longer have to look at this reminder every day, and saw to it that they didn’t have to anymore. Anyway, I wanted to describe the feelings I got seeing what was left of the trailer where Jessica lost her life. I got…..cold chills. There’s just no other way to describe it. I think it’s an evil place. I’ve never really felt that way about a location before, but I felt it there. It just totally creeped me out.

We chose not to look for Jessica’s grandparents trailer, although I know it was somewhere very close by. They don’t need or deserve people driving by gawking at them. Just seeing Couey’s trailer was enough for me. It made me more sure than ever that Jessica’s Law needs to be implemented, everywhere….now.

So, we went on to our hotel, had our fun time up there swimming with the manatees. It’s a beautiful area, I might add. A great place for a child to grow up (something that Jessica Lunsford did not get to finish doing).

While at the hotel, Ben asked around and got directions to the cemetery where Jessica is buried. On our way out of town, we found it, and thought that someone would be working (a groundskeeper?) to tell us where exactly Jessica was. Turns out no one was there. So the five of us spread out, searching for her headstone. It’s not a huge cemetery, but it’s pretty spread out, and we weren’t really sure what we were looking for. It took two or three trips around the cemetery, but Baylee and I finally found her, and waved everyone else over. Jessica’s resting place is beautiful, and is obviously still visited by family on a regular basis. As you can see from the picture, she is surrounded by many flowers and other mementos.

I just felt….I don’t know. I can’t even describe how I felt. I wanted to cry (actually did tear up a bit)….she so didn’t deserve what happened to her. I wanted to tell her how much her death has made a difference, how she’s helping to save other children. There’s so much I was feeling, I can’t even find the words right now. But being able to go and pay my respects to Jessica meant a lot to me. I guess that’s all I’m really trying to say.