Community Support Pulls Grieving Family Through

March 23, 1996

Vesper residents help Weeks fight for justice for their daughter

By ROBYN LONTZ

Tribune Staff Writer

VESPER – David and Brenda Week have learned something valuable in the past 12 months. When it comes to a crisis, hearts tend to grow a little bigger and a little softer.

“We really couldn’t have survived this year without the help of the community,” David said Thursday.

A year ago, this weekend, his 11-year-old daughter, Deidre, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while she was riding her bicycle about three-tenths of a mile from their rural Vesper home.

Shortly after Deidre’s death, friends, neighbors and strangers took part in candlelight vigils, established reward funds and hung pink (Deidre’s favorite color) ribbons.

“Their support is what keeps us going,” he said. “People still call and say, ‘Stick with it and keep looking for the person who did this.”

No arrests have made in the case, but David and Brenda are not giving up hope. They still are seeking “Justice for Deidre.”

Last summer, the couple hung signs and pink ribbons, and distributed bumper stickers with the slogan.

“We gave away 1,000 (bumper stickers), and people are still asking us for them,” said Brenda, explaining that the pink ribbons are “our way of showing that we’re not giving up until we find out who did this.”

The two say the support for their cause has been overwhelming.

“There isn’t a parent out there who wouldn’t do what we’re doing,” said David. “This was our little girl. We loved her with all of our hearts, and someone took her away.”

The Weeks say grieving for Deidre has been difficult because the person responsible for her death is still at large.

“He’s out there somewhere, and I’m also sure there are people out there who know more than they’re saying,” Brenda said.

“We need your help. You don’t know what it was like to hold my girl in the emergency room. You don’t know the painful, empty feeling I had when David called me on the phone to tell me about her accident. This shouldn’t have happened. And it shouldn’t have been Deidre.”

David and Brenda said they believe the person driving the car is someone local since nonlocal traffic is rare on their stretch of County Trunk HH, north of Vesper.

“I’m hoping these pink ribbons will trigger something in this person’s conscience. They can’t keep this inside forever, and I can’t imagine the investigation never finding the person who did this,” Brenda said.

“We’re not going to forget her. I don’t care if I have to hang ribbons until the day I die. If one of these pink ribbons can help us get the person who did this, it will be worth it.”