Apr 22, 2009 9:35 pm US/Central
Mother Grieves For Daughter Found Dead In River
DOLTON, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Arika Sims-Rentas, 36, was strangled before being thrown into the Little Calumet River.
CBS
Next Monday, Arika Sims-Rentas was supposed to celebrate her 37th birthday. Instead, her family will gather for a memorial service. Sims-Rentas was found dead in the Little Calumet River last week. So far, no one's been arrested. CBS 2's Dana Kozlov talked to the victim's mother, who is heartbroken by the way her daughter's life ended.
"She's somebody. She just wasn't a piece of garbage you could throw into a river," said victim's mother Elizabeth Jones.
Like most parents, Elizabeth Jones never thought she'd bury a child. And she never imagined her oldest daughter would be murdered and dumped in the Little Calumet River.
"If you have a heart or a soul, I want you to come forward," Jones said, "I want justice for my daughter."
Last Friday, someone walking over a bridge on Sibley Boulevard in Dolton saw
36-year-old Arika Sims-Rentas in the water. Her feet had gotten stuck in the mud, so she was upright.
Investigators say she was strangled before being thrown in the river and had been in the water for about a week. But Sims-Rentas, a mother of four and a home healthcare worker, had been missing for three weeks.
Jones says her daughter was bright, giving and trusting; qualities that may have led to her death.
"She wanted to see the good in everyone," Jones said. "I think that's why it ended the way it did. There were no bad guys to her."
And friends say she had no enemies.
"I never known her to have no problems with nobody," said victim's friend Kim Speers.
Arika's parents think they know who killed her, but they can't discuss it. State police say they aren't ruling anyone out.
"Whoever it was, I don't want him just to walk away," Jones said. "I want him to know that my daughter was a person."
Sims-Rentas' three youngest children are now living with their father. State police wouldn't comment further on this investigation.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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