Saturday night a fundraiser was held at the Mile Away Hall in Council Bluffs for the family of Sarah Root, who was killed January 31st in a suspected drunk driving accident.
The long line showed how much Sarah meant to her friends and family.
“It would have been better if we were doing this for a wedding, or her graduation, or her 22nd birthday,” said Sarah’s mother, Michelle Root.
She was joined by the rest of the family and hundreds of people for the event.
Dozens of businesses pitched in with silent auction items at the spaghetti dinner.
“Its’ overwhelming and heartwarming that there are so many great people out there, that care about this,” said Michelle Root.
The message of support was one part of Sarah’s story, the suspected drunk driver that was behind the wheel in the accident was 19-year-old Eswin Mejia, who skipped bail, and hasn’t been seen since.
“Sarah impacted every single person in this community, and it’s great to see the support that it’s coming to her from that all,” said childhood friend Emmy Lou Bates.
“It’s finally a sense of peace, this whole thing has been a nightmare, it still is, but having this and seeing the support for Sarah, people just pouring in minute by minute, its overwhelming because you never know how much someone is loved and now you see it,” said Nicole Jensen.
As friends console the Root family, they are focused on two things, finding the man responsible for her death, and changing laws, so other families don't suffer.
“Day by day, when he is caught that will help me,” said Sarah’s father, Scott Root.
“It will never being Sarah back, but at least we can feel we got justice for her,” said Michelle Root.
The family said some of the money raised Saturday night would go towards the Crime Stoppers reward for the arrest of Eswin Mejia.
