A bench has been installed in a playground at Clifton E. French Regional Park in Plymouth, honoring the memory of two little girls whose remains were found nearby in 1963 after they were abducted while playing in south Minneapolis. No one was ever convicted of the crime.
The bench, inscribed “In loving memory of Melissa Ann Lee and Barbara Ann Foshaug,” was blessed Saturday by a minister following a celebration of life at the park for Lynn Foshaug, Barbara’s older brother, who died last December.
The bench was installed at the park following a lengthy investigation into the abduction and murder of Barbara, 4, and Melissa, 5, by the Minnesota Star Tribune that appeared in the paper last winter. Lynn Foshaug, who was interviewed for the story before his death, was only 7 years old at the time his sister was abducted.
An aunt of Melissa Lee, Joy Roney of Georgia, spoke by phone in January with Park District Superintendent Boe Carlson about installing something permanent near the site where the remains were found to honor the little girls.
“We ask that this memorial will give the family the strength to carry on,” said the Rev. Larry Williams of Sioux Falls, who stood behind the bench with Colleen Duden, daughter of Lynn Foshaug and Barbara Foshaug’s niece. Sitting on the bench were Duden’s two children, Kaidan and Carlee Crumley.
At the celebration of life, Duden talked about her father’s loving support and thanked the Three Rivers Park District for installing the bench.
“It truly is a beautiful thing and the perfect place to remember these two little girls,” she said.
