Community remembers family of 4 found dead in Harrow, Ont., as 'solid family unit'

Every day, Treena Upcott would get a text from her friend saying how many times she had walked around the track of the expansive green soccer field in Harrow, Ont.

It would include the number of times her friend had circled the one-kilometre track and how many calories she'd burned.

"She used to say, 'Girl, I just did five kilometres,'" Upcott said. "I'd answer with, 'Girl, I did none.'"

Those sorts of memories are precious now for the hundreds of people who gathered at the soccer field Sunday night for a vigil. They carried tea lights, and as dusk settled over the field, remembered a family of four found dead last Thursday at a rural home on County Road 13.

Police haven't released the family members' names, but community members at the vigil identified them as Carly and Steve Walsh, their daughter Madison, 13, and son, Hunter, 8.

The family lived on the outskirts of Harrow, a town of about 3,000 people about 40 kilometres southeast of Windsor. 

Police still haven't released many details. They haven't said what led to the deaths. The Ontario Provincial Police West Region will only say the bodies are being examined by the coroner in London and that there will be more details in the coming days. 

Carly Walsh's Facebook page identifies her as an assistant manager at Paglione Estate Winery, and a "mother, friend, worker" and "wife trying to run a easy homestead in the county."

Her friends, Upcott, Victoria Cranston and Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy, organized the vigil.

Upcott said Carly was involved at the Catholic school attended by her children, and with youth soccer and various other causes. She touched thousands, Upcott said, adding the walking of the track by townspeople was a fitting tribute. 

"She loved the sun," Upcott said. "She loved to walk. Man, she loved to walk.

"They were a family unit. A solid family unit … This is the outpour of love for them, and this is just the beginning."

The vigil was so well attended that people formed a long line to enter through the chain-link fence to the soccer complex. Victims services workers were on hand to help. Volunteers collected donations for funeral costs. Family members of the victims were also there, but they stayed quiet and away from the media cameras.

Lindsay DePano, a close friend of Carly Walsh, broke down in tears as she spoke.

"I'm not ready to talk yet about what a wonderful person I got to grow up with," she said.

"There are no words that can describe this tragedy to make anyone feel better. We are all feeling sad, numb and confused."

But at the vigil, she said, "I am witnessing something that is magical, beautiful and incredibly strong. The love of the community is empowering and overwhelming."

Some of the most poignant comments came from friends of the kids.

"I was a social outcast most of my life," one girl said. "[The daughter] didn't have to be nice to me. She chose to.

"Most of my feelings are sadness and anger. They're big and I can't control them."

Another girl said she ice skated with Madison.

"I wish she could have made it to graduation," she said.

"I wish she could have made it to high school. I wish she would have the best years there. I wish she could have made it to her dream college and had the amazing friends she deserved.

"I wish she could have travelled everywhere she ever wanted."

Upcott, a manicurist, said she still remembers how many times she did the mom's nails — 273 times in 12 years. 

"She was so loved," she said.

Bondy told the crowd that people have a lot of questions. There will be answers, she said, in time.

Right now, she said, "it's all so soon."