A special monument has been unveiled in New Glasgow, N.S. to honour the memory of a young woman who has become known as Pictou County’s Angel.
The monument honouring Amber Kirwan was unveiled Tuesday, a year after her death. The 19-year-old disappeared during Thanksgiving weekend last year after leaving Dooley’s pool hall in New Glasgow.
Her body was found three weeks later in a wooded area near Heathbell, N.S.
Kirwan’s parents, Don and Marjorie Kirwan, attended the unveiling but were not ready to speak publicly. Their friends say the location of the monument along New Glasgow's Samson Walking Trail has always been special.
“We used to come here as children. Marge and I used to drive, used to take the kids in their strollers and then they got big enough, they used to drive their bikes through here,” says family friend Ceyla Cook. “We used to come every morning.”
The monument includes a wrought iron gate with a heart in the centre and a small candle in the middle of the heart.
Visitor Betty MacDougall and her daughter, Helen, were among the first to lay flowers.
“I feel so sorry for them, for her and the family. Just thought I’d do something,” MacDougall tells CTV News.
An inscription on the monument reads 'For all women, men and children who have lost their lives to senseless tragedy.'
“This monument should show that lives are taken, innocent people are killed every day and it’s not fair,” says Kirwan’s friend Katelyn Taplin.
Cook hopes young people, like her daughter, have learned the dangers of walking alone at night.
“She said ‘Mom, I wouldn’t have thought about it because of it being such a safe community, but obviously it isn’t,'" recalls Cook of her daughter.
Chris Falconer, 30, who was on parole for another murder, is charged with kidnapping and killing Kirwan. Fifteen days have been set aside in February for Falconer’s preliminary hearing.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh
