DNA of Two Men Was Found on Her Body | True Crime Documentary

News this morning for missing 6-year-old Faye [music] Swetlik. The last time we heard from investigators yesterday evening, they told us that they are following up on every lead and asking for help from the public to help bring this little girl home safely.  At around 1:00 in the morning, a surveillance camera picked up a light moving through the woods right next to a residential neighborhood.

 Someone was out there in the dark, slowly walking, shining a light on the ground in front of them, like they were searching for something. Less than 7 hours later, that same man walks into Walmart. He spends about 20 minutes in the gardening section, just kind of standing there, hmm, not really sure what to choose.

 Then he ends up buying bags of soil and fertilizer. At 7:47 in the morning, the camera catches him again in that same forest. This time, he’s carrying a bag deeper into the trees. About a minute later, he comes back out. But now, the bag is gone. Meanwhile, over 250 officers, along with agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and volunteers, are desperately searching for 6-year-old Faye Swetlik, who disappeared from her own front yard the afternoon before.

No trace, no answers. That same morning, while going through trash bins near one of the houses, investigators find a child’s rubber rain boot with polka dots and another item covered in dirt. Less than 30 minutes later, the entire search suddenly shifts direction. In the woods, less than 60 m from her home, an officer finds a partially buried body.

Right next to it, a second, small boot. And almost immediately after that, another call comes in from the same neighborhood. In the backyard of a house, they find a man. He’s lying in blood, dead. At that moment, police still don’t know if these two scenes are connected, but the answer is already closer than anyone realizes.

Hey guys. Um I’m going to pull you away for just a quick second. I’m actually really curious where my audience is watching from. So, I’d love for you to drop your city in the comments and tell me what time it is for you right now. Thanks for sticking with me. I really appreciate it. Go ahead and write that down below and let’s get back to it.

Just before 3:00 in the afternoon, 6-year-old Faye Marie Swetlik hopped off her school bus near Springdale Elementary School. She met up with her mom, Selena Swetlik, and the two of them walked the short distance home together chatting about their day like they always did. Faye was described as this bright, cheerful, super energetic kid.

Always full of life. Selena used to call her her little magical fairy, like her tiny spark of joy who just wanted to play and have fun all the time. She said Faye loved everyone and everything around her and she genuinely wanted other people to feel just as happy as she did. And honestly, one thing that really stood out Selena said her daughter was always the first to give compliments.

Even to complete strangers. We couldn’t go anywhere without her stopping like three or four people just to give them a compliment, whether it was their hair or the color of their outfit. And she was always trying to make new friends  [music]  all the time. When they got home, Faye had a quick snack and then went outside to play in the yard, something she did all the time.

 And neighbors later said they saw her out there pretty regularly. Selena kept checking on her, looking outside every few minutes, and at first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. One of the neighbors said they saw Faye running toward the shared fence near Napa Auto Parts sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 in the afternoon.

 Around 3:45, Selena stepped outside again to check on her, and that’s when she realized her daughter was gone. After running around to the neighbors, making a few calls, and searching the area herself, at 5:00 in the afternoon, she finally called 911.  I can’t tell you exactly what happened.  We can’t find my daughter.

 She was playing outside and I don’t know where she went. And I don’t know how long she’s been gone. She is 6. She’ll be 7 in June.  All right. All right. I’m going to stay on the line with you, but I’m going to get Casey on Casey TV on the line, too. But, I’m going to stay on the line, so don’t hang up, okay?  Okay.

 All right, ma’am. You’re on the phone with Casey. Go ahead.  Yes, ma’am. Can you spell out what your son’s name is?  Uh my daughter’s name is Say Wyatt. S A Y E.  All right. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. What was the first name again?  [snorts]  Say.  Say? S A Y E?  Yes, ma’am.  Okay.

 What’s your last name?  Sweatwick.  Spell that for me.  S W E T W I C K.  Okay. And what was she wearing?  Uh she was wearing uh polka dotted rain boots. Uh um a flowered skirt.  Okay.  And um a black um a black  shirt?  A black t-shirt that has um a neon design on it.  And how long has she been gone?  Um I don’t know.

 Last I saw her was probably about an hour ago.  And how old is she?  Uh she’s 3 ft 10.  3 ft And how much does she weigh?  Uh 55 lbs.  All right. You last saw her in the front yard. You didn’t see which way she went or anything like that?  No, she was just running like like right in front of my front porch.  Within minutes, police arrived at the house.

 And by 5:30, there were already around 50 responders on scene. Everything was happening really fast. And by 6:00 in the evening, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had joined the case. The community reacted immediately, too. People wanted to help, like right away. But police asked volunteers to hold back and let trained professionals handle the search.

Not long after that, Chad Swetlik, Faye’s father, was informed about her disappearance. An FBI agent showed up at his home to conduct a search. But Faye wasn’t there. And phone records later confirmed that Chad had been at home at the time his daughter went missing. By then, officers had already started going door-to-door, asking neighbors if they had any surveillance footage that could help.

 Comes to checking on those home security cameras, that’s something that uh we’re already doing. Certainly we’ll be going uh continue to go door-to-door and and then even revisit some of these doors a second time.  Ashley Hunter, a spokesperson for the city of Casey, asked that the community continue to share recordings with law enforcement.

 People in the community uh in the Churchill Heights community, if you have uh home security systems, uh Ring, Wyze video, anything like that, talk with our investigators and and let them reach out and and obtain some of that video.  The FBI brought in a helicopter, and K9 units were also deployed.

 Even with all of that, Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said there still wasn’t enough evidence to confirm an abduction. And Faye’s disappearance didn’t meet the criteria for an Amber Alert. By 7:00 the next morning, a tip line had been set up, and it received nearly 300 calls. Police followed up on every single lead, but none of them went anywhere.

At that point, over 250 officers and investigators from agencies across the country had joined the search for Faye. In the Churchill Heights area, checkpoints were set up, and every car going in or out was being stopped and checked. It had been almost 24 hours since Selina called 911. A press conference was held to share new details with the public.

 We’ve all been gathered here for one thing today, and that’s to find Faye. The last time Faye was seen, she was wearing a black shirt with the word peace across the front of it. The photos that you have, her hair’s a little bit longer uh than it is today. We’re trying to get pictures of that. It’s been cut to about shoulder length or just above.

Faye’s parents are anxiously awaiting her return. What we would like to ask is 803 205 4444. And we specifically ask that the residents of Churchill Heights here in Casey who have cameras, such as surveillance cameras around their houses, uh uh doorbell cameras, Ring doorbell cameras, anything like that, anything that records, and have any type of recording on their devices between the time of 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.

 yesterday, please call us at that number. Let us know that you have that recording. We’ll come get it, look at it, and it may be key in us proceeding with this case. And again, we’re here for one reason. We’re here to find Faye.  Authorities still didn’t know what exactly had happened, whether Faye had just wandered off and gotten lost, maybe got hurt somewhere, or if she had been taken.

But with every passing hour, it became less and less likely that a 6-year-old girl had simply walked away on her own. Investigators released footage from the school bus to show what Faye had been wearing that day, hoping it might lead to new tips. She had on polka-dot rain boots and a black T-shirt with the word peace on it.

During the intense search, law enforcement methodically interviewed everyone who might have had even the slightest connection to Faye or her circle. That included Selena, her live-in partner Carter, and Faye’s father, Chad Swetlik. Every conversation was careful and detailed, with even the smallest details being checked and double-checked.

At that point, police were openly saying they weren’t ruling anyone out, trying not to narrow the focus too early. One detective even stated directly that there were no clear suspects yet, which honestly just showed how complicated this situation really was. Soon after, following a thorough investigation, Faye’s family members were officially cleared as suspects.

Searches of their homes, analysis of phone records, and detailed alibi checks left no real reason to doubt their innocence. That decision lifted some of the pressure off the family, but at the same time, it basically pushed the investigation back to square one with no clear direction. On February 12th, police released images of two vehicles that had been leaving Faye’s neighborhood around the time she was last seen.

Those images sparked a new wave of attention and hope for a breakthrough. But pretty quickly, the drivers were identified and after being checked out, they were also cleared. What first seemed like a promising lead just faded away. Police were back at a dead end. No trace of Faye, no solid evidence, no version of events that clearly pointed forward.

 The search continued, but with every passing hour, the uncertainty only grew heavier. Thursday morning, February 13th, brought a new, urgent task. It was trash collection day and officers understood something critical. If there was any evidence in those bins, it could be lost forever. So, they had to move fast. A decision was made to carry out one final check of the dumpsters before they were emptied.

While searching trash containers near homes on Piccadilly Square, investigators came across something at house number 602. And it seems like it was literally at the last possible moment. The discovery was immediately described as critically important, but details weren’t released. The tension rose instantly.

 It felt like this could be the missing piece they had been looking for and whatever they found, it led them right back to the woods. After quickly reviewing the area and narrowing down the search zone, officers moved without hesitation. Less than 30 minutes later, the search for Faye Marie Swetlik came to an end and it ended in tragedy.

Byron Snelgrove was once again scanning the wooded area, carefully looking over the ground when he found her body. It had been hidden in a shallow grave less than 200 ft from her home, dangerously close, like almost right there next to where she lived. Later, it was determined that she died from asphyxia just a few hours after being taken, and her body had been moved only minutes after that.

That detail made everything feel even more brutal and final. Within minutes of finding Faye, officers received another call from Piccadilly Square. In the backyard of one of the homes, they found a man lying on the ground covered in blood, already dead. At that moment, his identity hadn’t been confirmed yet, and police didn’t immediately say whether the two scenes were connected.

 But, the tension spiked fast. It felt like all the pieces were starting to come together into something even more disturbing.  Since our last briefing this morning, we’ve had several developments to share with you. It is with extremely heavy hearts that we are announcing that we have found a body that the coroner has has identified as Faye Marine Swetlik.

We are now treating this case as a homicide. As this community has been working hard to find Faye and bring her home safely, we wanted you to know as soon as possible. At this time, no arrest has been made. You need to know that this is a fluid investigation and that we are working diligently on it. We also need to inform you that during the course of our investigation, a deceased male was located in the Churchill Heights neighborhood.

That investigation  [music]  has just begun. At this time, we feel there is no danger to the community. We will continue to provide more information [music] as it becomes available. We will not be taking questions. Thank you.  After Faye’s body was found, messages of sympathy started pouring in from friends, from strangers, from people who had been following the story from afar, and from those who felt it on a deeply personal level.

Flowers, candles, letters, they kept appearing one after another, creating this quiet but powerful space of shared grief. Every word felt sincere, but at the same time, there was this sense of helplessness, like nothing anyone said could really change what had happened. The feeling of loss spread quickly, far beyond just the family.

 It reached the entire community, into schools, onto the streets, into homes where people once felt completely safe. What had seemed normal just a day before suddenly felt different, more fragile, more unsettling. People spoke more quietly, lingered longer in conversations, like they were trying to process the weight of it all.

This loss wasn’t something abstract. It was felt in the smallest details, in the empty spaces, in the memories, in the silence that settled in places where there used to be life. And even with all those messages of support, it still felt like no words could fully capture the pain of what was lost.  All I could think of was my own kids if something were to happen to them.

 Oh, I think it was terrible. Um I feel bad for the family. I feel bad for all the people  Former Vice President Mike Pence also released an official statement, bringing even more national attention to the case. In his message, he expressed full support for law enforcement, emphasizing just how important their work is in an investigation this complex and emotionally intense.

His words came across as a strong vote of confidence in the investigators, who were continuing to work around the clock, trying to piece together exactly what what He pointed out that cases like this don’t just require professionalism, they demand real endurance because every single step can make a critical difference.

 That statement became yet another sign of how big this case had grown. It had already moved far beyond just one community and captured attention across the entire country. The man who was found on his porch was soon officially identified as 30-year-old Coti Scott Taylor. That identification happened pretty quickly, but it didn’t really answer the main questions.

If anything, it opened the door to a whole new, even more unsettling phase of the investigation. A name that didn’t mean anything to most people at first suddenly became the center of attention. Investigators started digging deep into his life, his habits, his routines, the people he knew trying to figure out anything that could shed light on his role in all of this.

Every detail was checked, every step retraced. But the overall picture still felt incomplete. Who was he, really? What kind of life did he live behind closed doors? And most importantly, what connection, if any, did he have to Faye? At that point, there were way more questions than answers. And that uncertainty, honestly, just made everything feel even more tense, [music] like the most important pieces were still missing.

 It’s after a little girl disappeared from her yard, investigators are now revealing more details about her death.  Police say that the body of a man found in the same South Carolina neighborhood is connected to the death of 6-year-old [music] Faye Swetlik.  People who knew Coti Scott Taylor described him as withdrawn and distant, someone who rarely opened up to others and almost always seemed to see life through a negative lens.

According to them, he would often talk about himself as someone without hope, even referring to himself as asexual and identifying with incel communities. It didn’t just sound like self-criticism. It felt like a deep kind of isolation he carried with him all the time. He lived with roommates he also worked with, but even in that environment, he didn’t really seem engaged.

One of them said Coty would occasionally mention feeling depressed and even brought up suicidal thoughts, but most of the time he kept everything inside, not letting anyone see the full picture of what he was going through. It created this sense that a big part of his inner world was completely hidden. Coty had studied mathematics at the University of South Carolina, but there are no official records showing he graduated and some reports suggest he left around 2009.

That part of his life also feels unfinished. Like there was no clear ending or explanation. Aside from a few traffic violations, he didn’t have any serious legal issues. He changed jobs frequently, never really staying in one place for long, but at the time he was working at Wingstop alongside his roommate.

 His lifestyle seemed unstable, but not something that really drew attention. As soon as Coty’s body was discovered, police started putting everything together, carefully connecting details over the next hours and days. Things that once seemed minor suddenly became important. And even though at first glance he didn’t appear to have any connection to Faye Marie Swetlik, a critical piece of evidence investigators had mentioned was found in a trash container near his home.

A detail that completely changed the direction of the case. Investigators believe Coty took Faye right from her yard. But even now, it’s still unclear exactly how it happened, whether he used force or somehow lured her by gaining her trust. And And that uncertainty is one of the most disturbing parts of the case.

It’s believed that he suffocated her within just a few hours after the abduction. After that, according to investigators, he somehow managed to keep her body hidden in his apartment for two days. And that part is especially shocking. Because during that time, investigators searched the apartment twice and didn’t find anything suspicious.

On February 12th, during the active search in the area, police knocked on the door of apartment. He wasn’t home at the time, so officers spoke with his roommate and searched the place. Inside, they noticed a full bag of dirty laundry. The roommate said it belonged to Coty, and detectives took a DNA sample from it for further analysis.

 There was also another detail that stood out. On the table, there was a flyer about missing Faye Marie Swetlik. At the time, it looked like just a normal part of the ongoing search. But later, it would take on a completely different meaning. After the search, the roommate’s alibi was confirmed, and investigators left the apartment without finding anything that directly pointed to a crime.

When Coty came back from work later that day, his roommate immediately noticed something was off. He seemed more tense, more nervous, like he was trying to hide something. His behavior just didn’t feel natural anymore, and it didn’t go unnoticed. Soon after, the roommate also noticed a strong and unusual smell in the apartment.

It was sharp, not like any normal household smell, and it made him uncomfortable. At first, he brushed it off as a cheap air freshener, thinking Coty might be trying to cover up the smell of marijuana. But then again, Coty had never used air fresheners before, and that made the whole thing feel even more suspicious.

 Later that same day, just before 6:00 in the evening, police returned to the apartment. This time, intending to speak with Cody directly. And this time, they did. The conversation was short, but important. When asked about his whereabouts, he couldn’t provide a solid alibi. His answer was simple. He said he had been home alone, sleeping.

 But, in the context of everything already known, that answer didn’t really hold up. Officers left again without finding anything obviously suspicious. But soon, it would become clear that earlier that same day, a surveillance camera had captured footage that would later become extremely important to the investigation. In that video, officers can be seen searching the wooded area for Faye carefully, step by step, combing through the terrain, not realizing just how close they actually were to the answer.

At around 1:00 in the morning, already February 13th, when everything was completely still and the darkness felt almost total, a surveillance camera in that same wooded area suddenly picked up a light. It appeared out of nowhere, like something out of place in that quiet nighttime atmosphere. The light moved unevenly, like someone was holding it in their hand and pointing it in different directions, lighting up patches of ground and parts of the trees.

And there was something really unsettling about it. It didn’t look random or brief. Instead, it felt deliberate, like someone was there on purpose, moving through the area, maybe searching or doing something they didn’t want anyone else to see under the cover of darkness. Someone was moving through the darkness, slow and careful, using a light to guide their way.

 The beam only cut through small patches of the [music] night, leaving everything else in shadow, and it created this feeling of tension and uncertainty. The figure looked blurry, hard to make out, but the way they moved felt confident, like they knew this area really well. Later, police would confirm that it was Coty Scott Taylor, and that detail gave the footage a completely different, much darker meaning.

About 6 hours later, just before 7:00 in the morning, when the night was slowly giving way to daylight, cameras picked up Coty again. This time, he was walking through the streets, and at first glance, he looked completely normal, but knowing the context, the whole scene feels unsettling. His route was direct and purposeful.

 He was heading to Walmart on Augusta Road, not stopping, not changing direction. The city was just starting to wake up, and everything looked so ordinary, which only made it more disturbing, considering what had happened just a few hours earlier. He wandered around the gardening section for about 20 minutes, slowly moving from shelf to shelf, like he was trying to find something specific, but at the same time, didn’t really know what he was looking for.

His behavior stood out. He seemed confused, lingering near items much longer than a typical customer, and a few times, he even approached an employee, saying he was supposedly working on a garden, but didn’t know what exactly he needed to buy. There was this uncertainty in the way he spoke, and it didn’t really match someone who actually knew anything about gardening.

According to sources, his roommate later insisted that Coty Scott Taylor had no interest in gardening at all, and had never shown any before. On top of that, he told investigators that Coty usually didn’t have much money, and lived pretty modestly, but not long before these events, he had received a paycheck, and that detail, later on, started to feel especially important.

A Walmart employee later told police that Coty eventually just randomly grabbed a few seed packets off the shelf. His actions looked chaotic, no clear choice, no logic, like he was acting on impulse. [music] From the outside, it almost felt like he was just trying to make it look like a normal purchase.

 About 10 minutes later, he went to the register and paid for several bags of soil and fertilizer, along with a box of Pop-Tarts, which mhm seems like such a normal thing. But in this context, it only made the mix of random items in his cart feel even stranger. After that, he calmly left the store without drawing any extra attention.

After leaving, Coty requested a ride through the Lyft app. According to the driver, from the very first minutes of the ride, Coty made him feel really uncomfortable. There was something tense, but also distant about him. He gave short answers, avoided eye contact, and seemed completely lost in his own [music] thoughts.

 During the ride, they passed areas where police officers and journalists were already actively searching for Faerie Swetlik. The atmosphere on the streets was tense, focused, impossible to ignore. The driver noticed it, too, and asked Coty if he knew her, just trying to make conversation or understand what was going on.

 And Coty responded, “I don’t know her. Never seen her before.” About 40 minutes later, at 7:47 in the morning, that same surveillance camera, the one that had captured Coty Scott Taylor in the woods earlier that night, recorded movement in that exact same spot again. And the timing it felt almost too precise to be a coincidence.

 Police later determined that this time, Coty was carrying one of the bags of soil he had just bought, walking straight into the woods right toward the area where Faerie Swetlik’s body would later be found. His movements looked deliberate, steady, like he knew exactly where he was going and what he needed to do. He stayed there for about a minute, which honestly is way too short for anything random, but just enough time to finish something planned.

 Then he walked back out the same way without the bag. And that detail immediately stood out to investigators. It looked like part of a clear sequence of actions. When police began searching the trash containers near Kody’s home, they carefully went through everything, every bag, every item looking for anything that might matter.

And that’s where they found a child’s polka dot rain boot and a kitchen ladle covered in dirt. Those items stood out instantly. They didn’t belong there. They felt out of place, disturbing, like something much bigger was hiding behind them. After that discovery, the decision was made right away. Officers headed back into the woods to conduct another, more focused search, concentrating on the areas that now seemed critical.

Surveillance footage later captured the moment when Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove, while on scene, found Faye’s partially buried body. Right next to her was the second small polka dot boot. And in that moment, it confirmed the worst. Around her neck, there was a white plastic trash bag. And that image became the final confirmation of what had happened.

 Not long after that, Kody Taylor stepped out onto the back porch of his home. What he did next felt sudden, but final. He cut his own throat with a knife, leaving no chance for questioning, no explanation. And that only deepened the sense that so many answers would never come. Beyond the surveillance footage and the evidence found in his trash, there was more, and it was just as critical.

During the examination of Faye’s body, Coty’s DNA was found under her fingernails, a direct sign of physical contact that became key to the investigation. His DNA was under her nails. Her own DNA was also found on the ladle along with his, and both sets of DNA were recovered from a black laundry bag.

 All of it came together into one consistent picture, every piece of evidence aligning without contradiction. All available evidence and established facts point to the same conclusion. Coty Taylor abducted and murdered Faye Marie Swetlik and acted alone in this horrific crime, said Byron Snoddy.

 According to investigators, there was no indication that anyone else was involved. It was later announced that Faye’s funeral expenses would be covered by a funeral home, a gesture of support for the family during an incredibly difficult time. And on February 21st, a public memorial was held where people came together to say their final goodbyes and honor her memory.

 That was Faye Swetlik’s [music] favorite song, and it was a somber night for the city of KC as the community said goodbye to the 6-year-old who captured the hearts of so [music] many. Trinity Baptist Church opened its doors to hundreds who came to pay their respects [music] to Faye. And before the service tonight, people lined the streets for this procession from her home in the Churchill Heights neighborhood to the church.

A colorful tow truck carried Faye, her mother, and her pink bicycle to the service. David Bates is the owner of Diligent Towing in Lexington. He’s [music] also a neighbor and friend of Faye Swetlik’s family. So, he reached out to Faye’s family and asked how he could help. He offered up his pink tow truck to escort Faye’s mother  [music]  and her ashes to Trinity Baptist Church for her memorial service.

 The community’s come together 100%. I mean, we’re all blessed to be a part of this.  The pink truck towing Faye’s bicycle [music] on the back joined dozens of motorcycles and tow trucks for the 2-mile procession to the church. One by one, motorcycles and trucks pulled into the church greeted by hundreds more there to show their respect for the little girl who made a big impact during her short time here on Earth.

 Faye will be somebody that we remember for the rest of our lives.  Hundreds of people, including first responders and police officers, gathered together to say goodbye. The atmosphere felt heavy, but at the same time, really quiet. Like everyone was trying to hold their emotions in, even though not everyone could.

Many showed up wearing pink and purple, Faye Marie Swetlik’s favorite colors. Those colors stood out in the crowd, adding this soft but painful kind of symbolism. As Selena once said, the more sparkle, the better. And on that day, that sparkle wasn’t about style. It was about love, about memory. Faye loved receiving letters and writing little notes, simple, genuine, full of that childlike joy.

 So, they set up special journals where people could leave messages, write how they felt, or draw something with colorful pens. One by one, people stepped up, staying a little longer than they planned, carefully writing words or sketches like they were trying to say something that was just too hard to say out loud. Those pages slowly filled up with warmth, with memories, with quiet grief.

It took a full year to officially close the case. A long, exhausting process filled with checks, forensic work, and endless attempts to piece everything together. But even after all that time, there was still this feeling of something unfinished, like something important had slipped away. It’s impossible to know exactly what happened that day or why it happened.

Police confirmed that all the available evidence points clearly in one direction, forming a consistent version of events. But even with that, there are still so many questions that will probably [music] never be answered. And honestly, that uncertainty is what makes this story even more unsettling. The motive behind the crime was never established, and most likely, it never will be.

 Cody Scott Taylor didn’t leave a note, didn’t leave any kind of explanation at his home, nothing that could help people understand why. Several agencies tried to pull data from his phone, hoping to find at least something that could shed light on the situation, but those efforts didn’t lead anywhere. The same with his computer, no meaningful evidence was found.

And that just deepened this feeling of emptiness. Like the answers should be there, but they’re just not. Even though the Casey Police Department completed its part of the investigation, the case wasn’t completely let go. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Law Enforcement Division continued their work, keeping certain directions open in case anything new could still come up.

It felt like an effort not to fully close the door, even when the main conclusions had already been reached. In July 2021, Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove, who played a key role in Faye’s case and had been there from the very beginning, announced his retirement after more than 35 years in law enforcement.

His departure became another quiet, but symbolic ending. For someone who had seen many tragedies over the years, but this one, without a doubt, left a mark. For me, after 65 hours of searching, the memory of finding little Faye Marie Swetlik’s body in a shallow grave on the morning of February 13th, 2020, it’s something that will never leave me.

 This tragedy deeply affected the officers who had been involved in the search from the very first moments. They worked without rest, combing through areas, checking every detail, hoping for a different outcome. But even almost a year later, the memories of this case never faded. They stayed with them like this quiet, but constant weight that just doesn’t let you fully move on.

The disappearance and murder of Faye Marie Swetlik immediately became and will always remain deeply personal for each of us. Those words didn’t sound like a formality. They felt real, like something coming from people who had seen too much and still couldn’t stay unaffected. For them, this wasn’t just another case, it was something that hit on a personal level, leaving a mark that doesn’t fade with time.

Faye’s death also had a deep and lasting impact on the community she lived in. People who once felt safe suddenly found themselves dealing with fear, with vulnerability. And that feeling didn’t go away after the news cycle ended or after the funeral. It stayed in everyday life, in conversations, in the silence between words, and it still lingers.

In memory of Faye, Springdale Elementary School created what they call a buddy bench, a place that became a symbol of support, kindness, and connection. It’s not just a bench on a school playground. It’s a quiet reminder that even after the darkest moments, people still try to hold on to light, the same kind of light Faye once brought into the world.

 If you feel like you don’t have a friend to play with, you can go to you can sit down on a buddy bench and somebody else will come and sit down with you and talk to you or somebody will come up to you knowing that you need a friend. And then I mean kids are awesome that way and then they didn’t go and play together.

 In her farewell speech, Selena Svetlik, holding back her emotions but not hiding the pain, spoke to everyone there with a simple but deeply meaningful request to honor Faye through love. She spoke slowly and clearly, like she wanted every single word to stay with people long after that moment. According to her, love was that invisible force, that real kind of magic that defined Faye Marie Svetlik and made her so special to everyone who knew her.

And you could feel it in her voice, not just grief, but this attempt to find meaning in something that shook everyone. She asked people to take just a moment and really think about who Faye was in everyday life. To try and be a little more like her. Not as some perfect ideal, but as a real example of kindness and sincerity.

To be kinder, even when it’s hard. To give compliments to strangers without expecting anything back. To allow yourself those simple joys like dancing in the rain without caring who’s watching. Stopping in the middle of a busy day just to smell the flowers. And actually noticing the beauty in the small things we usually miss.

And more than anything, just give more love. Honestly, freely, to everyone you meet. Because as she said, it’s in those small, almost invisible actions where something truly lasting lies. Even when the words run out and the pain is still there.