Hundreds march a path to commemorate the family of four found dead in rural Harrow

Every day, Treena Upcott received a text message from her friend telling her how many times she had run around the track of the sprawling green soccer field in Harrow, Ontario.

This would include how many times her friend had run the one-kilometer route and how many calories she had burned in the process.

“She would say, ‘Girl, I only ran three miles,'” Upcott said. “I’d say, ‘Girl, I didn’t run a single mile.'”

Such memories are precious today to the hundreds of people who gathered for a vigil at the football field Sunday night. They carried tea lights and, as dusk fell over the field, remembered a family of four found dead last Thursday in a rural home off County Road 13.

The family lived on the outskirts of Harrow, a town of about 3,000 inhabitants, about 40 kilometers southeast of Windsor.

Police have not yet released any further details. They have not said what led to the death of an entire family – mother, father, adolescent girl and little boy. The Ontario Provincial Police West Region only said that the bodies are currently being examined by the coroner in London and that more details will be available in the next few days.

But everyone on the football pitch knew the names of the victims. Especially friends like Upcott, Victoria Cranston and the Mayor of Essex, Sherry Bondy, who had organised the vigil.

Upcott said the mother was involved in the Catholic school her children attended, youth soccer and several other areas. She touched thousands, she said, adding that the townspeople walking the path were a fitting tribute.

“She loved the sun,” Upcott said. “She loved to walk. Man, she loved to walk.”

“They were a family unit. A solid family unit… This is an expression of great love for them, and this is just the beginning.”

The vigil was so well attended that a long line formed to get through the chain-link fence to the soccer complex. Victim Support Services workers were there to help. Volunteers collected donations for funeral expenses. Victims’ families were also there, but they remained quiet and away from the media cameras.

Lindsay DePano, a close friend of the mother, burst into tears as she spoke.

“I’m not ready to talk about what a wonderful person I had growing up with,” she said.

“There are no words that can describe this tragedy or make anyone feel better. We are all sad, numb and confused.”

But at the vigil, she said: “I am witnessing something magical, beautiful and incredibly powerful. The love of the community is encouraging and overwhelming.”

Some of the most touching comments came from the children’s friends.

“I was an outsider most of my life,” said one girl. “(The daughter) didn’t have to be nice to me. She did it willingly.”

“Most of my feelings are sadness and anger. They are big and I can’t control them.”

Another girl said she was ice skating with her daughter.

“I wish she had made it to graduation,” she said.

“I wish she had made it to high school. I wish she had had the best years there. I wish she had gotten into her dream college and had the great friends she deserved.”

“I wish she could have traveled anywhere she wanted.”

Upcott, a manicurist, says she still remembers how many times she did her mother’s nails – 273 times in 12 years.

“She was so loved,” she said.

Bondy, the mayor of Essex, told the crowd that people have many questions. In time, there will be answers, she said.

At the moment, she said, “it’s still so fast.”