NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara Falls community gathered Friday evening for a candlelight vigil for a local woman and her two children, who are presumed dead after going over The Falls earlier this week.
The event started at 6 p.m. at Bacon Memorial Presbyterian Church on 59th Street.
Organizers said it provided an opportunity for the community to show support to family, friends, classmates, and teachers who were all impacted by the tragedy. Mental health counselors were also on hand, for anyone who needs to talk.
New York State Police said officers were called to Luna Island around 9 p.m. Monday, near the Cave of the Winds.
Chaianti Means, 33, and her two children — 9-year-old Roman Rossman and 5-month-old Mecca Means — crossed over the safety railing and went over the falls, police said. Police said the family did not just "stumble in."
Recovery efforts have been going since then.
Along a stretch of the lower Niagara River, between The Falls and about a mile to the north near the site of the former Schoellkopf Power Station, searchers used a boat. Some people kept their eyes on the waters, and others used binoculars to scan the shore.
"We can never truly ask the why unless you have the person in front of you, and that's if they're going to give you he why, right?" New York State Police Trooper James O'Callaghan said during a Thursday news conference.
"And it's very difficult to answer that question, and it might never be answered, unfortunately The best we can do for family is, down the road, recover the bodies if we can, and at least have that closure for the family."