ARMSTRONG, B.C. – An annual walk to remember the life of a North Okanagan teen has been changed to help bring out more people to the event.
Taylor Van Diest was killed on Halloween night 2011 as she walked alone on the railroad tracks in Armstrong.
Her mother, Marie Van Diest, says the memorial walk for Taylor will be held on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m. instead of Halloween night.
“It was just too difficult to ask people to come out Halloween,” says Van Diest. “Kids want to go trick-or-treating, parents want to take them trick-or-treating, and I just didn’t want anyone to feel obligated.”
The walk will begin at the Glad Tidings Church, head down Pleasant Valley Road and then onto the memorial trail.
“We’re going to switch up the route this year,” says Van Diest. “I would like, more so, to follow the route Taylor took. I think it would be a little more symbolic if we did that.”
The 18-year-old was murdered by Matthew Foerster in a random act of violence.
Foerster was convicted of first-degree murder last year, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. He is appealing the conviction.
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