Awards and Recognition

Before the excavation, Howard had described the casket as a light blue-type color with a steel strip on the
side. McFarland confirmed that the color was nearly similar and that a steel strip had been welded
around the casket to seal it.

Howard, with the help of her son Chris Demirdjian, knelt down and briefly touched her aunt’s casket.
Trembling, she then reach down from the dirt unearthed from atop the casket and picked up a small
plastic flower with pink petals that lay on the ground.

After the dirt was placed back over Willis’ grave, Howard placed the small flower atop the grave.

“I have her headstone ordered and I’ll be back next month to place it on her grave,” Howard said. “Nobody’
s going to walk around her grave again without knowing who’s there.”