GOLDEN CITY, Mo. – Wednesday was a day of heartbreak and remembrance in Golden City, Mo. Adriaunna Horton, 12, was laid to rest one week after her body was found, the victim of a kidnapping, rape and murder. Candles and teddy bears were left in the park where Adriaunna was kidnapped. The whole town shut down for her funeral to remember and honor a girl whose awful death touched so many.
School was canceled on Wednesday. Instead the town’s one and only school for kindergarten through 12th grade hosted funeral services for the sixth grader who was kidnapped last week.
“Very happy young lady…showed up at school every morning with a smile and left every day with a smile. She was a hugger,” Kevin Baldwin, Golden City Schools Superintendent, said.
Baldwin said more than a 1,000 people attended the afternoon service. Even business owners closed down during the funeral to honor Adriaunna.
“It’s important for us to let them know that even though we’re strangers that we still care, that we still love them, we’re going to pray for them,” Jeff Goddered with the Motorcycle Honor Guard said.
A number of motorcycle groups came to show their support and afterward led a procession down Main Street. Adriaunna’s body was carried in a horse drawn carriage. As the casket passed, one member of the honor guard blew her a kiss.
Robert Horton, one of the organizers of the procession, is a cousin of Adriaunna’s father and said the large turnout meant a lot to the family.
“Everything, it means everything to them, they’re overwhelmed. People need to come together in their community, it’s a little town, it shouldn’t happen,” Horton said.
Earlier this week a family acquaintance, 34-year-old Bobby Bourne, made his first court appearance for kidnapping, rape and murder charges that were filed after Adriaunna’s death. Prosecutors have yet to decide if they will seek the death penalty.
