Family of murdered Vernon woman wants to bring her home

An online fundraiser has been set up in the hopes of bringing the body of Ashley Wadsworth of Vernon back from England to be buried.

The efforts have already generated tens of thousands of dollars.

Over the weekend, a large vigil was held in Chelmsford, outside London, where Ashley was living, to remember her and show support for her family.

Around 150 people from the community walked on the street playing some of her favourite music, and carrying balloons, flowers, and signs to honour her.

The procession walked to a park near where she died. The BBC reported that orchids were placed there, and Ashley’s sister Hailey read a special tribute.

“My beautiful sister, you have done amazing things honey, you cared so much for your family you always put us first,” Hailey said in her tribute.

“I’m so happy we were so close and grew up together and spent almost every day of our lives together.

“God gained another beautiful [angel] love you so much baby girl.”

Ashley was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last March. Local church representatives delivered prayers and blessings at the park.

Wadsworth, who was 19, flew to England last November to be with her boyfriend. They met online and she was set to return to B.C. this month.

On Feb. 1, Essex police were called to a disturbance where they discovered she had been stabbed to death in an apartment.

Her boyfriend, 23-year-old Jack Sepple, was charged with her murder. He’s in custody and his next court appearance is set for March 7.

Friends remembered her as ‘a ball of energy’ who commonly posted jokes and memes every single day. She was known to start games of hide-and-seek and bake cakes at random times.

Leading up to her death, Wadsworth had been reaching out to friend groups across North America.

She indicated she needed help and her contacts were putting her in touch with people in England that could help her and work with the authorities.

A friend of the Wadsworth’s has set up an online fundraiser to help with the funeral costs, and return Ashley to her family to say their final goodbyes.

At the time of publication, the fundraiser had raised over $24,000 with the goal of $50,000.

(Story by David Hanson/Kelowna10)