Over a month has passed since North Fort Myers teenager Nikola Knight lost his life in a house fire. Knight is remembered as a kindhearted young man by loved ones and a hero by neighbors who say his screams alerted them to the nearby flames. In the days following his death, a memorial quickly formed just outside the home, but now that memorial is gone.
“The community started coming together. They didn’t wait for permission. They just started bringing stuff that memorialized Nikola as not only a friend, a member of the community, but also a hero,” said Chamberlain.
Nikola’s next-door neighbor, Rebekah Chamberlain, reached out to WINK News on Wednesday to report that the memorial had gone missing. WINK News also spoke with the property owner, who said he noticed last week that it had disappeared.
Knight, 17, lost his life in a house fire in November. Chamberlain credits him with saving her life by alerting her family to the nearby flames.
“I feel like Nikola was my hero, and that memorial memorialized that,” said Chamberlain. “We had just decorated it for Christmas. I can’t see anybody who would want to maliciously take this, but it doesn’t answer the question: Where is it? What happened to it?”
The property owner and neighbors tell WINK News they did not see anything. Now, the Suncoast Estates community just wants the memorial back.
“No questions asked. We just want it returned,” said Chamberlain. “You can return it in the middle of the night. You don’t even have to set it up. Just put the things back. No questions asked.”
If the memorial is not returned soon, there is another plan in place: “Nikola was loved by so many people, so we are now currently working on getting a permanent memorial set up for him,” Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain mentioned that the new memorial would be located off McDaniel Drive, a designated permanent memorial site for another child, Allana Staiano, who was killed back in 2020, after she was hit by a car while walking with her friend. Chamberlain said Staiano’s mother, Christine Gray, is willing to share the space so a cross can be put up for Nikola, too.
Chamberlain said the community is looking for volunteers to help with this endeavor; “If anybody wants to meet up to help us, we are more than willing. The more the merrier.”
According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), the investigation into the fire is ongoing.
The day after the fire, a truck with a smashed windshield was left abandoned one street over from where the fire had happened. WINK News asked the Lee County Sheriff’s Office if this truck was connected to the fire, and LCSO shared it has since seized the truck as part of an active investigation being conducted in conjunction with the fire marshal.
LCSO said no arrests or charges have been made in this case at this time. The agency was unable to comment on whether the cause of the fire is suspicious, directing inquiries to the fire marshal. WINK News will provide updates on the investigation as they become available.