PORT ORCHARD, Wash. — "They threw it away like it was trash," she said. "The things there were special to us and special to our children."
Neighbors confirmed that the man who owns the property had the memorial removed. It was, they said, a fire hazard. Scott Anderson, who lives across the street, watched it come down.
"I mean the pickup truck just came and parked out front, they were there half hour, 45 minutes, some shovels," said Anderson. "Threw it all in the back of the pickup, took off."
The memorial had been growing since the terrible Dec. 16 night when the teens died in a crash in which Barrett was racing her 20-year-old boyfriend. She lost control and struck a tree. The memorial quickly became a source of comfort for their still grieving family and friends.
"My brother even planted a tree down there," said Rhonda Barrett, Rebekah's mother. "I mean it just became a place of healing."
Then late today, after we talked to him, neighbor Anderson offered his property for the memorial. So Barrett and her brother moved the memorial across the street. It is here now that they will mourn the loss of two vibrant lives.
Barrett says the neighbor told them they can keep the memorial up as long as they like. She says they have already arranged for two large signs to be erected here along Baby Doll Road, as a reminder to every one of the tragedy that occurred.
As for the man accused of vehicular homicide, Robert Rundquist Jr., is free on bail. The parents told us they urged the Kitsap County prosecutor to drop the charges against him.
"I guess in things like this, someone's got to pay," said Shanaia's father Dewey Bennett. “But he's basically paying and to further that pain to me doesn't serve any justice."
Bennett said he has asked prosecutors to arrange a formal meeting with Rundquist so he can meet him face-to-face.
No date has been set.