North Texans asked to wear pink Monday in honor of 7-year-old Athena Strand

WISE COUNTY, Texas — Residents throughout North Texas are being asked to help honor a 7-year-old girl who was found dead following an abduction last week.

Athena Strand, who was the subject of an AMBER Alert, went missing last week in rural Wise County, and her body was discovered on Friday night. 

The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Tanner Lynn Horner, confessed to abducting and killing her on Wednesday. Authorities said Horner was working as a contract FedEx driver and was delivering a package to Strand’s home when the abduction allegedly happened.

As the investigation continues, officials are asking residents in North Texas to wear pink in honor of the 7-year-old victim.

In a statement, Wise County Judge J.D. Clark said pink was Strand’s favorite color and that he urges everyone in the county to wear the color on Monday.

“My heart is so heavy about Athena,” Clark said. “… Additionally, I encourage everyone to join me at 6:30pm on Monday on the Courthouse steps to pray for Athena, her family, our first responders and our community.

School districts such as Paradise, Castleberry, Northwest and Weatherford are also asking students and staff to wear pink on Monday.

Comanche Elementary School in Oklahoma, where the 7-year-old was a student, is also asking students to honor the child by wearing pink.

When announcing that Strand’s body had been found on Friday, Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin called the case “one of the toughest investigations I’ve ever been involved in.”

“Any time there’s a child that dies, it just hits you in your heart. You compare that child to your own children when they were at that age,” Akin said.

The 7-year-old’s body was found about six miles southeast of Boyd. Horner is the lone suspect in the case, according to officials.