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MURRAY — Nina Olson came to say goodbye to Kayelyn Louder, a woman she never got a chance to meet but will think of often for years to come.
The drive from Olson's home in Lehi is familiar now. She traveled it often over the past nine weeks to help search for the missing Murray woman whose body was found in the Jordan River on Monday, about 5 miles from Louder's apartment.
"I just felt like I could do more," said Olson, who joined several searches for Louder after meeting her family and seeing their struggle for answers.
Louder, 30, had been last seen when a surveillance camera captured her leaving her condo in Murray on Sept. 27, walking away barefoot in the middle of a rainstorm. Police later reported Louder had made several confused 911 calls prior to her disappearance.
A final vigil for Louder was attended by almost 200 people Thursday, a chance for friends, family and strangers to find comfort together. Some wept at photos of Louder, laughing through happy moments in her life. Others smiled at the sight of her with her beloved dog, dressed in a tutu or getting a kiss. Olson carried a purple candle, Louder's favorite color.
"Many of you didn't know Kayelyn, but I know that she has touched you," Amy Fugal, Louder's cousin and a spokeswoman for the family, told the crowd. "We didn't want this outcome, but we're happy to know where she's at."
For weeks Olson and other volunteers helped the family search for Louder, blanketing the Salt Lake Valley with missing persons fliers and sharing pleas for information online. There she met Jon Stearns, a West Jordan resident helping in the search, and together with other volunteers they would drive around sharing fliers or simply looking out the window in hopes they might spot Louder.
Even though I didn't know her at all, I feel like I know her now.
–Emily McCurtin, Murray resident
The two stood together at the vigil at Murray Park on Thursday, no longer strangers, mourning together.
"I always kept my eye out, since the day I heard," Olson said. "It's like you see someone, and you think it's her, and your heart skips a beat."
When Stearns heard Monday a body had been found in the river after weeks without any answers, he feared the worst. The next day, police confirmed it was Louder.
"We hoped for a more positive outcome," Stearns said. "I could feel it. Just with no sightings and no contact, I knew what was coming."
So far, questions remain about what caused Louder's death and how she got into the river, and private investigators hired by the family continue to seek information about the case. They are currently awaiting autopsy results and toxicology reports.
Emily McCurtin, a Murray resident who has followed the case from the beginning, now hopes the family will find peace.
"Even though I didn't know her at all, I feel like I know her now," said McCurtin, holding a tall candle with a message to Louder written on the glass. "I just hope that the family finds the answers to really be able to put closure to it."
