Published: June 18, 2008 11:54 am      

A final 'goodbye' to Logan Tucker

A memorial service will be held for Logan Tucker at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Crystal Beach Park band shell.

It will be a simple service, according to Tucker’s maternal grandmother Connie Henson, noting that it is intended to provide some closure to those affected by Tucker’s loss.

“This will be a final closure for Logan,” Henson said, noting that “next Monday will be the sixth-year anniversary of Logan’s disappearance and the day he was murdered.”

The six-year-old Tucker disappeared on June 23, 2002. His mother Katherine Rutan-Pollard told friends that he had been taken by workers from the Department of Human Services, but then told police officials that her brother had taken the boy on a camping trip.

Both accounts were later proven to be false and after numerous searches for Tucker were unsuccessful, Rutan-Pollard was arrested for the murder of her son in Feb. 2006. A two-week trial in Aug. 2007 ended with her conviction and in Oct. 2007 she was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The memorial service is being held in lieu of a funeral, since Tucker’s body has never been found and “probably never will be,” Henson said.

Besides the few words that will be said by Bishop Scott Stratton who will be overseeing the ceremony, she said the service will also include a prayer given by her husband Don Henson and a poem written by a friend of the family in Tucker’s honor.

At the end of the service, Henson said, “we will release 100 balloons . . . as symbolism of his spirit going to heaven.”

Brochures in Tucker’s memory, listing his name, birthday and the day he disappeared, will also be handed out to those in attendance, she said, noting that the public is invited to attend.

The event is actually designed to help bring some closure to the entire community, both Henson and her husband said.

“A lot of townspeople have been really affected by it,” Don Henson said, noting that the service is intended as a gesture to help bring some peace to them and also to say “thanks for all their support they’ve given us in the past.”

The Hensons noted that eventually a tree will be planted out at Crystal Beach Park in Tucker’s memory and will be designated by a special plaque with his name on it.

Since their grandson will probably never have a proper grave, the Hensons said the tree will at least will be “a place where people can go for peace of mind and where they can go to say their good-byes.”