GALVESTON, Texas—On Wednesday 11 News was invited to take a boat ride to return to a painful place:  The cross on that small spit of land where little Riley Ann Sawyers was found last October.

“And just pulling up here brings back all the pain and grief,” said Cheryl Lawless as we arrived on an airboat piloted by Hal Newsom.  “I never thought it would hurt so bad to come back here.”

“It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. To come around that corner and see the cross,” Rain York told us fighting back tears again.

Lawless and York, both of Texas Equusearch, made the return trip to the island in Galveston’s West Bay to clean up the cross placed on the island last year.  They wanted to cut back the weeds and replace the faded fabric flowers with new ones…in pink.

"BABY GRACE"

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“And keep it clean, fresh, and well kept and alive just as her memory is,” Lawless told us.

But that memory is on a remote island that very few will ever be able to visit.  So this week Riley Ann’s grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, asked for 11 News’ help from her home in Ohio. 

She wants a memorial park bench placed somewhere in the city of Galveston. 

It will bear a gold-colored plaque with Riley’s picture, the dates of birth and death for her short two and a half years, and the quote “budded on earth…to bloom in heaven.”  She and an organization called The Circle of Friends will donate it if the city is willing to give it a home.

“Like a hospital or a park where kids are going to be at so they can pass by it and go ‘oh I remember that case, I remember what happened with that little girl,” said York.

11 News contacted Galveston city leaders, and they told us they were motivated to act immediately. They have already identified three city parks as potential locations. They plan to make a decision soon.  Riley’s grandmother would like the memorial bench in place by July 24 ^th, the one year anniversary of Riley’s death.

For now there is only that remote island cross, topped with a tiara, a butterfly necklace and now surrounded by that ring of bright pink fabric flowers in her memory.

“As long as there’s an island here,” said Lawless, “Riley has a memorial place.”

And soon Galveston will have a second memorial place for Riley Ann Sawyers so thousands more can visit and remember her too.