Friends, strangers join in goodbye

By MARGARET STAFFORD

The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. --- "I love you Pammy. Goodbye."

As she stood near the spot where her 10-year-old daughter was about to be buried, Cherri West kissed a purple balloon and released it into the air.

Seconds later, about 200 more purple balloons followed, released by mourners who had come to support the family and say goodbye to Pamela Butler. Bagpipes played "Amazing Grace" as West and others watched the balloons float away.

The burial service was the end of a week of extraordinary attention paid to Pamela since she was snatched by a stranger Oct. 12 while roller-skating in front of her Kansas City, Kan., home. Her body was found in a field near Grain Valley, Mo., last Friday.

A suspect, Keith D. Nelson, 24, remained in federal custody on a kidnapping charge.

After up to 2,000 people attended her wake Tuesday night, about 600 more --- many of whom didn't know Pamela or her family --- filled the CrossRoads Church for an emotional funeral service Wednesday.

Three local television stations interrupted regular programming to carry the 75-minute funeral.

Speakers at the funeral didn't dwell on the horrible circumstances of Pamela's death but chose to remember the girl's constant smile, laughter and ability to make those around her feel better.

Her stepfather, Danny West --- who is serving time in a Lansing prison for parole violation --- was released to attend the funeral. He told mourners Pamela had visited him in prison in Ellsworth, where he previously was held, the Sunday before she was kidnapped.

"I was feeling kind of down. But we had a great time, she made me feel a lot better," West said, adding her last words to him were "be good so you can come home."

West also thanked law enforcement officers, many of whom attended the service, for their efforts in finding Pamela's body.

Pamela's teacher at Fiske Elementary School, Terry Yadrich, said the fifth-grader was a gift to the school.

"She had all the qualities that made a teacher proud to say 'That's my student, and she's a wonderful girl,' " Yadrich said. "She made our school a better place and blessed us all."

One of Pamela's stepsisters, Amanda West, broke down crying as she told mourners how Pamela had made a mess at her house the night before she disappeared. Before she left, Pamela told Amanda, " 'Tomorrow, I'll come back to help you (clean up). Is that OK?' That day never came."

A friend, Holly Woods, said, "She was always someone there to make me laugh when I was feeling bad and made me feel better when I was feeling good."

Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Carol Marinovich said Pamela's death had brought the Kansas City metropolitan area together.

"People from all walks of life have embraced Pamela's family," Marinovich said. "The outpouring of love makes me proud to call this community home."

Pamela Butler

"She was always someone there to make me laugh when I was feeling bad and made me feel better when I was feeling good."

--- HOLLY WOODS, a friend of homicide victim Pamela Butler

Copyright 1999
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