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Only On 4: Slain Girl's Family Talks

POSTED: 6:06 pm EDT August 29, 2006

About 2 1/2 months ago, Gabrielle Bechen took her last all-terrain vehicle ride down a dirt road in Greene County to a horse farm not far from her home.

Every day since the 12-year-old girl's death, her parents have retraced those steps to honor their little girl at a nearby memorial.

Up until now, they haven't been able to talk about her publicly. But on Tuesday, in an exclusive interview with Channel 4 Action News reporter Janelle Hall, the parents spoke about their daughter's memorial and life without their little girl.

At the end of a grassy path across from the horse farm, a growing memorial marks the spot of Bechen's death.

"Sitting up there, looking at her pictures, you could only imagine what she would look like all grown up. But now you can't," said Bechen's mother, Mimi.

Gabby Bechen loved riding her quad, but never from her Dunkard Township home. Her parents said it gave her a little bit of freedom.

"She likes the horses and I guess, from what we understand, Gabby wanted to ride the horses," Mimi Bechen said.

The girl's love for horses drew her to a farm about one mile from her home back in June.

Police said the man responsible for caring for those animals -- 48-year-old Jeffrey Martin -- killed Gabby Bechen.

After four days, search crews found the child's body and ATV buried on the farm.

"They came and told us they found her body. That was heartbreaking," Mimi Bechen said. "When you're a parent, you just keep that little hope that she could come walking through the yard."

Gabby's brother, Corey, still waits for that day. His parents help him remember her kind spirit at the memorial site.

"For all the parents that do have young kids, keep an eye on them, because if it's not safe in the country, it's not safe anywhere," Mimi Bechen said.

Martin is charged with homicide. He was due in court on Wednesday, but that date was recently postponed.


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