DALLAS — The North Texas community is encouraged to wear pink in honor of Athena Strand, who would have turned 8 years old on May 23, but was killed in late November 2022.
Strand was abducted from her home on Nov. 30 in rural Wise County and killed by a contract driver for FedEx.
The driver confessed to police that he was delivering a package to Strand's home and accidentally struck her with his vehicle, panicked, and then strangled her to death in his delivery vehicle in fear of the consequences that would follow.
The driver, Tanner Horner, then dumped Athena's body in a rural area and led investigators to the location after his capture and confession, according to investigators. He has since been indicted on capital murder and aggravated kidnapping charges.
Strand's death has led to the proposed legislation, HB 3556, which would allow law enforcement to sidestep the requirements for a statewide AMBER Alert and instead allow them to issue a regional alert to people within a 100-mile radius of the location where the child is believed to have gone missing or was last seen.
This has been dubbed the "Athena Alert" and the bill passed the Texas House overwhelmingly. The bill is in the Texas Senate, and if it is passed there, it will head to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed into law.
Pink was Athena Strand's favorite color. The young girl was buried in a custom-made pink casket, and Texas school districts across the state wore pink to honor her nearly a week after she died.
More Texas headlines: