Opelika Police Department raises funds for memorial marker dedicated to Amore Wiggins

OPELIKA, Ala. (WTVM) - A candlelight vigil and memorial was held Sunday afternoon in downtown Opelika for Amore Wiggins bringing out hundreds of community members.

“Can y’all just say it one time? Lift her name up. Amore Jo’Veah Wiggins. We will never give up. We love you,” said mother Sherri Wiggins.

For 11 years, the Opelika community has never forgotten the girl we now know as Amore Wiggins.

In January of 2012, the remains of an unidentified small child were located in a wooded area in Brookhaven Mobile Park home in Opelika. After the countless hours the Opelika Police Department spent on the case, Amore was finally identified and laid to rest in February.

“Oh what I would give to see the sparkle in your eye. What I would give to hold your hand, send you off to school wearing your favorite pants. I can hear your little voice whisper to me ‘Mommy don’t be sad’ I can just hear you whisper Mommy I have arrived,” said mother Sherri Wiggins.

Opelika Police Chief Shane Healey said because Amore spent the last decade in Opelika, and has become such a big part of the community’s family, the Opelika Police Department has decided to raise funds for a memorial marker in Opelika dedicated to Amore Wiggins.

The custom bronze statue will feature Amore sitting on a bench, wearing a dress, and holding a teddy bear. The memorial is estimated to cost around 12,500 dollars and take around six months to create.

“Our proposal is to have a custom bronze statue created of Amore, she will be sitting on a bench so the community will be able to come and sit with her as a way of respecting her and showing her what she meant to us as the Opelika community,” said Chief Healey.

Any remaining funds after the project is complete, will be donated to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Amore’s name.

“She was love, she was important, she was special. She means something to the world. She was love,” said Sherri Wiggins.

If you would like to be apart of the contact list for that information, email Alison Duke with the Opelika Police Department at aduke@opelika-al.gov.

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