LAKE CITY — Stephanie Park is planning two memorial services this spring to honor her adoptive daughter, Rebecca Park, and Rebecca’s unborn son as the legal case tied to their deaths continues.
Rebecca Park was 38 weeks pregnant when she was killed last year after going missing on Nov. 3.
Her remains were later found in the Manistee National Forest after several weeks of searching.
Stephanie Park said she is planning one private service and one public memorial for community members and volunteers who helped search for her daughter.
The plans come as the case against Rebecca Park’s biological mother, Cortney Bartholomew, and Bartholomew’s husband, Bradley, moves forward. Both are in jail, charged with the deaths of Rebecca Park and her unborn child.
A judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order delaying the release of Rebecca Park’s remains so the defense can conduct an independent autopsy before the body is released to the family for final arrangements.
Stephanie Park said she understood the delay because she wants the investigation handled thoroughly.
“I understand them extending her release because I want to have all of the evidence for both sides so that it can’t be thrown out over some technicality that had to do with it,” Park said.
She said the remains are now an important part of the court case.
“That body is not her. She’s up in heaven doing gardening or whatever she wants to do,” Park said. “That body, it’s just evidence. That’s all that is now.”
The unborn child has not been found despite search efforts following the discovery of Rebecca Park’s remains.
Stephanie Park said she believes the chances of finding the baby are low and that uncertainty contributed to her decision to move forward with the memorial services.
“I would love to have him placed to rest with Rebecca,” Park said. “If (he is found), he will be put to rest in the same little casket as she is. If not, and something comes up later on, I will have a couple of different spots at the cemetery, and he’ll be buried right next to her.
The public memorial is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, May 16, at either Lake City County Park or a location in Cadillac.
Stephanie Park said she chose those possible locations because Rebecca Park attended Lake City Area Schools and was well known in both communities.
She said she wants the public memorial to give supporters a place to process what happened.
“A lot of people who didn’t know her were very invested in this situation and stuff that I want them to be able to have someplace to go and put that part of it away,” Park said. “A lot of people put a lot of work into this, into finding her and locating her.”
Stephanie Park also said she plans to attend every court hearing for the two people charged in the case.
“What she went through was worse than anything I will ever have to go through,” she said. “So I will sit there and take it like a mom.”
She plans to cremate Rebecca Park and bury her in Lake City near other family members. The May 16 public memorial date could change depending on when the medical examiner releases the remains.
NOTE: All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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