‘Crying ever since.’ Cayce community mourning death of Faye Swetlik
The smell of wild green onions growing from the grassy median that runs through the entrance of Churchill Heights wafted through the air. Only feet away, crime tape lined the wooded area and shifted in the breeze.
The tape marked off the area where Cayce Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove found the body of 6-year-old Faye Swetlik on Thursday. The tape is a terrible reminder of a death that brought mourning to a Midlands community.
Swetlik went missing Monday afternoon and was found dead Thursday about midday after an extensive search effort.
Neighbors and strangers from all over Cayce created a loving memorial at the entrance of Churchill Heights. People left balloons, flowers and teddy bears in a rainbow of hues in front of the neighborhood’s brick marquee.
“I’ve been crying ever since” Faye went missing, Connie Walker said after she left a single rose on the growing memorial.
Cars drove by honking and semi trucks blared their horns in remembrance of Faye.
Walker’s daughter lived in Churchill Heights a decade ago, she said. They would take walks with her grandchildren in the neighborhood.
“It was nice,” she said.
She has five grandchildren now and said she felt like she’d lost one of them after hearing of Faye’s death. When she left her rose, she said she hopes when Faye’s family sees the flower, “they’ll know people are thinking of them.”
Like many of the dozens of people who left their condolences, Walker had to hold back tears as she stood by the impromptu shrine.
Victoria Sightler held her two childrens’ hands as she walked them across the street to the memorial. Her young children placed their balloon and flowers with the others.
Sightler said she grew up in Cayce, near Churchill Heights. During high school, she walked over to friends’ houses in the neighborhood every day.
She said her stepfather also used to live in one of the homes near where Faye was abducted. Sightler’s son would play in his grandfather’s yard just like Faye did at her house.
“It could have been him,” she said about her son.
And Faye’s disappearance and death hurt like it was her child, Sightler said.
After a moment the only word she could come up with is “Why?”
That’s a question it feels like the entire city of Cayce is asking.
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 4:44 PM.