A Little Girl’s Life Community Members Are Ready To Apply The Heartfelt Lessons Of Rachel Carver’s Death To Their Own Lives

She had nightmares. Eight-year-old Stephanie didn’t remember what they were about or even that she had them, but she woke up crying during the night.

In the morning, she’d ask her mother, “How’d I do, Mom?”

So Pat Richling decided that it was time for the healing to begin, for the ribbons to come down and for the community to grow stronger after the death of Rachel Carver, who never made it to the last day of school at Ridgeview Elementary.

“For all the kids in the neighborhood, it’s time to move on,” said Richling, who runs a day care across the street from Ridgeview Elementary. “We want them to just forget it. These kids need to have their summer.”

It’s been a time of pain and suffering for the Shadle Park neighborhood and the entire city of Spokane. Out of the grief, neighbors are trying to salvage some hope - a stronger sense of community, a closer eye for children and new programs that may help other Rachels.

Since her death, Rachel Carver has become a symbol of what the community wants to prevent. She’ll have a safe home named after her and trees planted in her memory.

“I was just amazed at how many lives she’s touched,” said Gloria Fontinell, president of COPS Northwest. “I wish I had known her. I wish I had that opportunity. She obviously was a very special little girl.”

Community draws together

Rachel is remembered as a friendly, frecklefaced redhead. At the spring concert for the first-, second- and third-graders, Rachel helped move her class from the stage to the floor for a ribbon dance.

“She knew exactly where everyone was supposed to be,” said Glenna Flewelling, who was in the audience watching her first-grade daughter.

The community rallied for Rachel, who moved in with her aunt and uncle in October. When word got out that she was missing June 14, hundreds of people showed up - at the school, at COPS Northwest, in neighborhoods around the city - to help search for Rachel.

“What was the most amazing thing about it was very few of these people were called,” Fontinell said. “People just came. It was incredible.”

At Ridgeview Elementary, concerned parents and neighbors gathered. Chuck Flewelling, a co-chair of the school’s Parent Advisory Committee, arrived home from work at Sacred Heart Medical Center at 5 p.m. His wife, Glenna, didn’t even let him out of the car. He drove over to Ridgeview to help.

“We couldn’t just stand by and do nothing,” Flewelling said.

They looked through alleys, searched through buildings, called her name. All told, more than 300 neighbors tried to find Rachel. More than 10,000 posters of her smiling face were posted on telephone poles, in cars and in businesses.

The volunteers went home that night, only to return at 7 the next morning to continue the search. Police stopped cars along North Side arterials during morning rush hour.

None of the volunteers found Rachel. The official announcement came that night, in front of Ridgeview Elementary, with television cameras and reporters clustered around Police Chief Terry Mangan. Volunteers wailed in the background, as the chief told them that a park ranger had found Rachel’s body.

Across the street, Pat Richling was lying in bed with Stephanie, trying to comfort and calm her. Then they heard from outside that Rachel was dead, her body found stuffed in a cardboard box.

Fontinell’s next duty was grim. She stayed out until about 1 a.m. with several volunteers, trying to erase all evidence of the search. They ripped down fliers.

“We really cleared a big area,” Fontinell said. “We didn’t want the children to get up in the morning and face them.”

Working for something positive

Since Rachel’s uncle, Jason Wickenhagen, was arrested in connection with the crime, there have been rumblings of hope. Neighbors want to channel the community outpouring into ongoing projects, like a neighborhood picnic tentatively set for July 29 at Shadle Park.

“We have to make this work for something positive,” Fontinell said. “We have to do it for us, and we have to do it for her memory.”

Children and parents were invited to Ridgeview Elementary on June 16 to draw posters and write cards to Rachel. About 75 people came. Stephanie walked across the street with her mother. She drew an outline of her hand on a poster, and she wrote a card to Rachel. “I miss you,” it said.

A memorial service was held for Rachel on June 20 at Shadle Park High School followed by a candlelight vigil. Flewelling went. Another service for friends and family was held at North Central High School.

Rachel Carver is spurring children’s programs. A new COPS project called “Winners” will find safe homes that troubled kids can go to. The first home will be called the “Rachel Carver Winners” home.

The COPS substations will also continue working on the school watch program, established by COPS West. This program stations volunteers along walking routes to watch children and make sure they get safely to and from school.

In the week after Rachel disappeared, dozens of people asked for applications to get involved with COPS Northwest. Seven were returned filled out. Usually, the shop gets one application a month.

There’s talk of pressuring legislators and the judicial system for reform. There’s talk of a tree planting and of other memorials to be established at the school, which became the focal point for Rachel.

Richling hoped for continued community involvement, for more nosey neighbors. She wanted her two daughters to feel safe. Richling, a longtime North Side resident, also went to Ridgeview Elementary. She remembered packing a lunch and playing all day long in the woods.

“Nobody was worried about it,” she said. “We had that freedom. Nowadays, kids don’t.”

“Because of the bad guys,” added Stephanie, who will be in third grade next year.

Fence comes down

The first memorial to Rachel Carver was woven into the chain-link fence and the handrails at Ridgeview Elementary. There were colorful ribbons, bouquets and solitary flowers, and scrawled personal notes to the smiling little girl who spent a brief time at the school.

“To Rachel,” said one penciled message on notebook paper. “Rachel you are nice. I love you a lot. Do you like me? Yes No. I lik and love you a lot. You are funny and you are pretty. I don’t like your uncil. I got you to bells just for you.”

A wooden cross, with “Why?” written on it, formed the centerpiece of the fence. Flowers and notes were knitted together in a wall of memory.

It attracted lookers in the neighborhood. It became a shrine to Rachel. It was a place where the community could mourn.

“There are pretty strong feelings about the fence,” Flewelling said. “Some people want it up a lot longer. Some don’t.”

The fence haunted Stephanie, who knew of Rachel but didn’t know her.

The fence came down last week, after the little girl’s nightmares.

Richling called the Ridgeview Elementary Parents Advisory Committee to tell them about her daughter.

As Richling prepared her family’s first homecooked dinner in a week - steak and french fries - she got ready to join volunteers across the street. Stephanie wanted to help. They walked across the street to help a half-dozen parents and children.

They clipped the ribbons, swept up the flowers and took down the cross asking “Why?”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Photos (1 Color)