At midnight, The Five Angels Foundation will host a vigil on the West Portico of Templeton Blackburn Memorial Auditorium in memory of five students who were killed in an arson fire last year.
Ohio University students Erin Demarco of Canton; Andrea Dennis of Maderia; and Christine Wilson of Dublin; and Ohio State University students Kyle Raulin of West Chester and Alan Schlessman of Perkins Township were killed in the fire on 64 E. 17th St. in Columbus, just off the Ohio State University campus.
Members of Alpha Gamma Delta wanted to do something positive in memory of the five students, especially the three Ohio University students who were sisters in their sorority. The foundation was started by Melissa Johns, Michelle Baker and Bethany Coupland, said Johns, vice president of the foundation.
Johns said they plan to have an inspirational speaker at the vigil and music. They hope to get a nearby church to ring its bells during the ceremony.
The vigil is more so for us
it's been a year we need to have something Johns said.
The vigil is one of the many things that friends and families close to the students hope will ease their grief. Finding the arsonist would help too.
On Aug. 1, 2003, police arrested Robert Lucky Patterson, 20, and charged him with five counts of aggravated murder, three counts of attempted aggravated murder and nine counts of aggravated arson. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien released Patterson 10 days later because of questions about whether the evidence gathered would hold up in court.
The biggest challenge investigators face on this case, on which they continue to work daily, is getting witnesses to come forward with information about that night, said Detective Mike McCann.
McCann would not comment on specifics of the investigation and O'Brien could not be reached for comment.
Three billboards went up on Olentangy River Road, 17th Avenue and 11th Avenue last week to remind people the case has not been solved. Two more will be added soon. A student from Columbus College of Art and Design was asked to design the billboards, said Kevin Miles, president of Crime Stoppers. The 2,000 posters OSU distributed this past fall were too intimidating, Miles said. He said he wanted a young person to create the design to talk to students and not scare them.
If anyone would like more information about the foundation, including how to contribute, they can visit the Web site at http://www.fiveangelsfoundation.org.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at: (614) 645-TIPS. The reward is now $35,000.
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Michelle Simakis
