PONTE VEDRA, Fla. \u2013 Nearly 39 years after Melissa \u201cMissy\u201d Taylor Ellison was killed in her Jacksonville home, her daughter gathered Saturday with the people who knew her mother best for a private celebration of Missy\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Casie Ellison was just 13 months old when her mother was killed on Dec. 28, 1987. She survived that night and was found unharmed on a couch inside the home.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, family members and lifelong friends gathered at The Link at Nocatee for a Prayer for Justice and Celebration of Missy\u2019s Life. The private event included prayer, music, photos and stories meant to help Casie learn more about the mother she never had the chance to grow up with.<\/p>\n
Missy\u2019s sister, Glenda Blandford, said she began planning the event months before an arrest was made in the cold case earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt like the whole group needed to be together because I feel like the more prayers going up, a better blessing coming down,\u201d Blandford said. \u201cI started calling Missy\u2019s friends and asked them how they would feel about coming and joining us for a prayer event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blandford said Missy\u2019s friends were eager to attend, but also saddened because they continue to grieve her death.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were all for it, and they were excited. They were saddened because they still grieve her the same way our family does,\u201d Blandford said. \u201cMissy had a lot of friends, and I mean a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
As more people filled the room, they also got a chance to meet Casie, who said the stories she has heard over the years have helped her get to know her mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stories that I\u2019ve heard of her in her short 20 years of life make me want to be a better person,\u201d Casie Ellison said. \u201cThat makes me want to be memorable. So I\u2019m happy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blandford said Casie carries many reminders of Missy.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has so much of Missy\u2019s mannerisms,\u201d Blandford said. \u201cShe has her smile. She has her eyes. There\u2019s so much about her that is Missy. It\u2019s so hard some days to look at her and not cry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The celebration included photos, hugs and shades of purple. Casie said the color was a nod to one of her mother\u2019s favorite artists and songs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom loved Prince, and her favorite song was \u2018Purple Rain,\u2019 so this is us celebrating her and her quirks and just dancing in the purple rain,\u201d Casie said.<\/p>\n
The gathering followed a major development in the case, which had gone unsolved for nearly four decades. Blandford said Project Cold Case helped renew attention on her sister\u2019s case nine years ago.<\/p>\n