Larie's Family Devastated
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It's a pain that can't be put into words.
"It didn't turn out to be the best like I wanted it to be,” said Karen Snipes.
For five days, Karen Snipes begged police to find her daughter. On Thursday, they did.
The search for 17-year-old Larie Butler came to an end in a swimming pool in Irondequoit. Now that she knows what happened to her daughter, Karen wants to know why.
"You took away a beautiful girl, a beautiful girl for no reason at all."
Karen last saw her daughter Saturday before she went to work. Larie called that afternoon to tell her mom she was going to a Henrietta mall.
"If I had known this was going to be the last time I saw my baby, I would have never let her go."
Karen will never forget the way the conversation ended.
"That was the last word. Mommy, I love you, and that's what I keep playing over and over again in my head. She told she loved me."
Dawn Drexel knows what Karen is going through. It's been almost three years since her daughter Brittanee went missing. Now a state director for the Cue Center for Missing Persons, Dawn came to help with the search. She and a team of volunteers are staying to provide comfort.
"We're going to be there through the fight. She needs justice. Her daughter needs justice,” said Drexel.
Justice for Karen means getting some answers. Answers that could come from one of Larie's friends: that male acquaintance who took her to the mall and told police he dropped her off near East High School.
"You knew. You knew all along when I asked you and you lied to my face and I hope they catch you,” said Karen.
Larie would have graduated high school next year. She wanted to be a nurse. A life with so much promise cut short.
"Larie, I love you baby. You're in better hands now."
Karen thanked the Rochester Police Department, the Cue Center, and the community who she says rallied around her during a difficult time. A candlelight vigil is tentatively planned for Saturday to honor Larie's memory.