The happy home lays in ruins. Folks with Mapquest printouts parade by only to reach the end of the Cul-de-sac and have to navigate a tight turn.

Family friends and relatives of the victims come by the pay their respects.

A simple note sums up how many must feel:

“I hope that your family will heal and get past this tragedy.

Your family is in our thoughts and prayers.

May God be with you always.

May 2009 be filled with happiness.

–Your neighbor.

 

The pictures are two of several I shot. One is of clearly grieving relatives approaching the burnt out house where the Ortega family once lived. The other shows a smaller group of the same relatives paying their respects at a memorial to the family. Camera crews captured the moment on video.