The ceremonial ribbon skirts, worn by mourners at the funeral in South Dakota of14-year-old McKenna Rose Wendel, were the girl's favorite colors: pink and purple.
A traditional Lakota star quilt that draped McKenna's casket had soft shades of red and purple stripes, the same colors her nails were painted when she died.
After going missing for nearly a week, authorities found McKenna's body onMarch 19in a rural area of Brookings, roughly an hour north of her home in Sioux Falls. Authorities have not said how they believe she died − explaining that they're awaiting the results of an autopsy this week − but they have vowed to get justice for the teen.
McKenna's devastated family laid her to rest on Thursday, March 26, in Sioux Falls, where she lived with her grandparents. Her community remembered the teenager, who also went by Kenna, as a bright and curious girl who loved animals and other "little critters."
She had a cricket habitat inside her locker at George McGovern Middle School and a dog named Iris. She took care of two hermit crabs before she had to bury them in her backyard. with a cross made by her grandpa.
She would catch tadpoles in the backyard. And she begged to take in any of the frogs she found in the grass after it rained.
As McKenna's family mourns and questions continue to swirl about the circumstances surrounding the teen's death, here's how those who loved her remembered her on a somber day in South Dakota and what to know about the case.
McKenna Wendel made friends, teachers 'feel special'
McKenna was an eighth grade "cheerful and social" student, McKenna's teacher, Brigid Berger, said as part of a tribute at the teen's funeral.
"My clearest memories are the way she was able to make the people around her feel special and feel seen," Berger said. "To Kenna's family, thank you for sharing your beautiful granddaughter, sister, daughter and cousin with all of us."
The Rev. Christina O'Hara, who presided over McKenna's funeral at the same Episcopal church she was baptized in years ago, said the loss of McKenna has been "extremely troubling."
"If we believe in a loving God, how can that God allow these things to happen?" O'Hara said. "This work of grief begins now as we learn to feel McKenna with us in spirit."
McKenna's grandparents, Ralph and Rose Wendel, took care of McKenna. She was "the center around which their lives revolved," the girl'sobituaryreads.
As members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate), they helped her develop a "deep pride" in her Native American heritage. Her uncles, aunties and cousins Warner, Alayona and Kenai were also in the pews, holding each other.
A visitation and vigil for McKenna brings in hundreds
Ronald Blackman, a friend of McKenna's mother and a Wacipi dancer and pastor at the Church of Deliverance in Sioux Falls, said the teen's death has been "so tough for them."
Blackman was part of the Wakiyan Sapa Singers, a regional drum group that performed prayer songs at McKenna's wake on March 25.
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Classmates held pink flowers and cried, and her grandparents thanked everyone for coming.
Related:See photos from a Native American Day parade that McKenna and her family were part of in 2024.
Wesley Brandis attended the visitation with his daughter, Aaliyah Brandis, who was McKenna's best friend. They made TikTok videos together, listened to music and watched sunsets side by side. Now there's a void in Aaliyah's heart, Brandis said, as she slowly shares "more and more stories" of her friend.
Brandis made the star quilt, the one McKenna's family will now keep, and he also started a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs.
"I'm heartbroken that you are getting (this quilt) the way you are," he said in a tribute to McKenna. "She had a bright future ahead of her. Her laugh was infectious, and she had jokes that could cheer anyone up."
Blackman said: "Kenna just always knew she was loved."
What we know about McKenna Wendel's case
McKenna Wendel was last seen in Sioux Falls, where she lived with her grandparents, around 1:30 a.m. on March 14. She was reported missing on March 15, with police saying that she was last with a family member but declining to specify who.
Authorities found McKenna's body in a rural area of Brookings on Thursday, March 19. Two people led them to the location, Sioux Falls Lt. Terrance Matia told reporters this week, though he did not elaborate. He said someone "transported her in a vehicle" to the site.
Authorities have said very little about what they believed happened to McKenna, though Matia said that she "and others may have traveled to other locations" during the time she was gone, including Iowa, Minnesota and multiple locations in South Dakota. Matia declined to elaborate but said his agency is working with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the South Dakota Attorney General's Office "in locating where the venue would be if criminal charges were to come in the future."
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who was at the scene in a rural area when McKenna's body was recovered, told reporters that he has assured her family "that law enforcement is giving this the attention it deserves."
"This is a 14-year-old little girl," Jackley said. "You can be assured that law enforcement is going to continue to give this the attention it deserves to bring justice to what happened to McKenna."
Authorities said they plan to release more information after McKenna's autopsy is finished as soon as this week.
Angela George is a trending news reporter with the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, part of the USA Today Co. network. Email ageorge@usatodayco.com.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers cold case investigations and the death penalty for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:As questions swirl about McKenna Wendel's death, a community mourns