🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
The Strand family mourned the death of 7-year-old Athena Strand at a "Viking princess" themed funeral in Bridgeport, Texas, on Friday after she was murdered last month by a contracted FedEx driver who was making a delivery to her home.
The customized casket was donated by the SoulShine Industries to be used during the service, local news station WFAA reported. The same company also made 19 custom caskets for the victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that happened in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this year.
Strand's casket was painted in pink, which was her favorite color, and had a princess crown with rhinestones at the top with her picture inside the lid. Two Viking symbols were also on the front of the casket.
"One of the symbols means 'father-daughter' and then the other means 'mother-daughter,'" said SoulShine's owner, Trey Ganem, who explained that the family wanted a "Viking Princess-themed casket."
Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
"Athena had some cool pictures looking like a Viking—she had an axe and a huge shield. She was a daddy's girl, for sure," Ganem said, according to WFAA, and added that the casket turned out to be "beautiful." According to Ganem, Strand's father participates in renaissance festivals and the 7-year-old would often tag along with him.
"The hardest thing a parent has to do is pick out that casket. I don't want that to be the hardest thing; I want that to be something that represents that child," Ganem said. "It's not about just painting a casket—it's about representing that loved one's life. This one hit me pretty hard because we think we're safe—especially with someone bringing us packages. I don't know how to comprehend what the family was going through, and it was really emotional for me."
Strand was killed by FedEx driver, Tanner Lynn Horner, who allegedly admitted to authorities that he strangled the 7-year-old, according to court documents.
The 31-year-old said he accidentally hit Strand with his van while on his delivery route when he was backing up his truck, and said she wasn't seriously injured, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
However, Horner said that he "panicked" and took the girl inside the vehicle. The child then reportedly talked with Horner and told him her first name.
"The Defendant stated he attempted to break Athena's neck to kill her," court documents showed. "The Defendant stated, when he attempted to break Athena's neck it did not work so he strangled [her] with his bare hands in the back of the Fed Ex van."
Horner told law enforcement that he strangled the child "because she was going to tell her father about being hit by the Fed Ex truck the Defendant was operating," according to the affidavit.
A large search was carried out after the girl disappeared from her driveway in Paradise, Texas, on November 30. Her body was found two days later roughly six miles away. Authorities believe she died within an hour after being in contact with Horner, who later guided officers to the location where he disposed of her body, which was found "in the water."
Horner is currently jailed with a bond of $1.5 million and faces charges of capital murder of a person under 10 and aggravated kidnapping.
More than 30,000 children were reported missing in Texas in 2021 with around 4 percent of those being subjected to non-family abductions, according to Texas Center for the Missing.
Meanwhile, Strand's mother, Maitlyn Gandy, told WFAA that her daughter was cremated after Friday's service. Her ashes are expected to be held inside a customized urn that SoulShine will also make, according to Ganem.
Gandy will keep the casket as a memory box that will contain her daughter's belongings.
"Jacob and I, as well as Athena's entire family, would like to thank Trey with SoulShine Industries. You helped us capture our Viking Princess in a way we didn't think possible. Trey and his wife are truly friends for life. You guys are very talented, kind, amazing humans. Athena looked very comfortable in her bed," Gandy wrote on Facebook on Friday.
Newsweek reached out to Texas Center for the Missing for comment.
About the writer
Fatma Khaled is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. politics, world ... Read more