HIGH POINT, N.C. — The family of Heddie Dawkins held a vigil Wednesday to honor her life a day after search teams found her body.
People from High Point and beyond searched for a week after she walked away from her home in the middle of the night.
High Point police said they found her body in the woods near her home Tuesday.
Loved ones and strangers gathered at Gethsemane Baptist Church to mourn and heal.
Dawkins, 81, went missing from her home off Penny Road in High Point last Wednesday. She suffered from dementia and police were worried she'd injured herself after doorbell video spotted her with blood on her face and head.
Dozens of community members came together to help in the search for Dawkins. Cory Dawkins, Heddie's grandson, said the community's support meant a lot to their family.
"Look at how many people she has touched," Cory Dawkins said.
Her family remembered her as a hardworking mother of five who earned degrees from Shaw and North Carolina A&T. She went on to be a guidance counselor at schools in High Point.
They also remembered her for her faith, which they said never wavered even in her dementia.