DENVER — A candlelight vigil is planned to honor the memory of missing 7-year-old Jordan Vong, whose body was found Tuesday after police served a search warrant on the family’s Montbello home.
The vigil will be held at Greenwood Academy, located at 5130 Durham Court in Denver, beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The vigil is open to community members, families and students.
The 7-year-old boy was reported missing Monday afternoon. His body was located Tuesday after police searched the family’s home.
Denver police said Wednesday that officers found Vong's body "intentionally concealed" inside the family's home while they executed a search warrant. Division Chief Joe Montoya said a 16-year-old girl was arrested for investigation on a first-degree murder charge in connection with Vong's death.
Vong attended Greenwood Academy, and a spokesperson for Denver Public School said crisis counselors are on hand at the school all day for students and families.
Two girls at Greenwood's middle school, which sits right next to the elementary school, said they befriended Vong after seeing him playing alone on the school’s playground.
“We would play tag with him, and I remember asking him what’s his name. And he would say, ‘Jordan’ all smiling and happy,” said 13-year-old Luz Padilla. “When we asked him who were his friends, he would say, ‘I don’t have no friends. You guys are my only friends.’”
Gisele Perez, who lives close to Vong and is also 13, said she decided to play with Vong because he was always alone.
“When we played with him he just seemed really happy. He seemed like someone cared about him,” Perez said.
Both said they were heartbroken to learn that Vong was missing and then found dead.
“It’s all about Jordan today because, like, he was really nice and a caring kid, so it’s really heartbreaking that he passed away,” Perez said.
“We were all crying and sad because he was such a nice kid,” said Padilla.
