A memorial service for Faye Swetlik is set for this Friday.
Diligent Towing & Transport LLC, a company that has been in direct communication with the Swetlik family, announced on Facebook that the Faye Swetlik’s funeral will be held at 7 p.m. Friday Feb. 21 at Trinity Baptist Church in Cayce.
According to the Facebook post (below), the family has requested that no one wears black, but bright colors instead (pink and purple were her favorite colors). They asked that the general public not arrive at the funeral home before the church service, the post said.
An online obituary said what we reported Saturday — Faye Swetlik died on Monday, the day she went missing from outside of her Cayce, South Carolina home.
An obituary posted on Caughman-Harman Funeral Home – Lexington Chapel’s website earlier Monday said Faye Swetlik was born June 13, 2013 and died February 10, 2020.
Hours after the post was shared on social media, the funeral home edited the post to not include the date of death — likely because it hadn’t been officially announced yet.
The funeral home told WIS News 10 that all funeral expenses will be paid for.
On Saturday, law enforcement officials told FITSNews they believed Swetlik died on Monday. They also said they believed 30-year-old Coty Scott Taylor — the man connected to Faye Swetlik’s murder — committed suicide.
This information was provided to officials by Lexington county coroner Margaret Fisher — who ordered autopsies on both bodies for Saturday.
The Cayce Department of Public Safety is investigating Swetlik’s death as a homicide. Authorities have not released a cause of death or exact time of death in the case.
The Lexington County Coroner’s Office will officially release more information on both autopsies Tuesday. Fischer’s office said the preliminary results won’t be released until Tuesday “out of respect for Faye’s family,” who needs “privacy and time to process the information.”
A press conference is expected at 3 p.m. tomorrow, according to the Cayce Department of Public Safety.
Diligent Towing also suggested that anyone wanting to donate to the family for can give money to this GoFundMe page started by a family friend.
A heartbroken community
Faye Swetlik’s story has broken the hearts of millions across the country. WLTX reported that hundreds showed up to a candlelight vigil Saturday evening, where her parents thanked the community for their support.
Among the thousands of heartfelt Facebook posts honoring the bubbly 6-year-old with bright blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair, a first-grade teacher’s viral post captures the true heartbreak of this story.
Morgen Sightler, a first-grade teacher at Springdale Elementary School in West Columbia, wrote that “no teacher is ever prepared for that empty spot in the room.”
“I will miss your morning hugs, your bright eyed smile, you skipping down the hall ready for anything and everything, the excitement you had when I told you to kiss your brain, your curiosity, your kindness, your stories, but most of all…your ability to love unconditionally,”
She shared her last memories with Faye.
“On Monday I remember you telling me, Mrs. Tynes and Mrs. Prosser all about your new purple dress from Target and how it was just the right size for you,” Sightler wrote.
“I pray you are dancing, skipping, and loving on everybody in that purple, size 7/8 dress right now in Heaven. I pray for your peace,” she wrote. “I pray for all of us to spread your love at school and just cherish the memories we had with you. It will be different in the world without you Faye, a lot different.”
“Faye, you taught us more than we could ever teach you and we are so thankful for that,” the teacher wrote. “Rest In Peace sweet angel.”
On Saturday, Faye Swetlik’s body was escorted by law enforcement agencies from MUSC in Charleston where the autopsy was performed, back to Cayce.
Investigation ongoing
Faye Swetlik’s body was discovered by Cayce public safety director Byron Snellgrove in a wooded area in the Churchill Heights neighborhood (close to Taylor’s home) at around 11:00 a.m. EST on Thursday.
Shortly thereafter, police found Coty Taylor’s body at his home at 602 Picadilly Square.
No arrests have been made and the community is not in danger, Sgt. Evan Antley of the Cayce Department of Public Safety said on Friday.
According to Antley, police found a “critical piece of evidence” Thursday while searching through Taylor’s trash can that led them to finding Faye. Antley said officers were following a trash truck and searching through trash in the neighborhood as a part of their investigation Thursday.
Antley said Taylor was “not a friend” or a family member of Faye’s, but just a neighbor who lived in Churchill Heights — less than 150 feet from Faye’s home. He said Taylor didn’t have a criminal record and “was not known to law enforcement.”
“We have no suspects at this time, we have made no arrests, and we’re not seeking any persons of interests at this time,” Antley said Friday.
Antley previously said officers spoke with Taylor and “had been inside his home” during the investigation. Because the investigation was so narrow, officers went door-to-door asking neighbors if they could search their homes and speak to detectives about the case.
“We believe Faye had not been in that location for very long at all,” Antley said Friday.
Police have not said where Faye’s body was between Monday and Thursday — and how her body got to that location while so many officers were searching the area.
According to his Facebook page, Coty Taylor was a graduate of Bluffton High School in Bluffton, South Carolina who studied math at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and worked as a manager at Jimmy John’s.
Before her body was discovered, Faye was last seen playing outside of her home on Londonderry Lane in Cayce around 3:45 p.m. Monday. Cayce Department of Public Safety officials said Faye rode the bus home yesterday and arrived at her home “like any other day.”
Faye’s mother called 911 around 5 p.m. Monday after she realized her daughter was missing.
More than 250 officers from over 20 law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), searched tirelessly throughout the Churchill Heights neighborhood for three days this week. They used tracking dogs and helicopters in the search.
Officials kept their search extremely limited over the course of their investigation —stretching just past the 1-mile radius of the Churchill Heights neighborhood.
“I want everyone to continue to pray for Faye Swetlik,” Evan Antley said on Friday. “This has been a horrible situation for our community and our department.”
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