Loved ones honor woman who died from exposure
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Exposure to the frigid cold took the life of Cassandra Shields in January. Now, her loved ones are holding an event to honor her.
The family of Cassandra Shields, affectionately known as Cassie, remembers her as an outgoing, happy person.
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'She would always bring joy to like everybody I guess, you know. She's like the life of the party pretty much,' Cassie's Son, Teighton BigEagle said.
'She was always willing to help people. She would go out of her way to make somebody feel good. Bring people up when they were down,' Cassie's Mother, Jacquelyn Gayton said.
Cassie would have turned 36 tomorrow, which is why her family and friends are hosting a meal and vigil at Watecha Bowl in Sioux Falls. Fifty-percent of all sales will go to her sons.
'We're going to have a bunch of raffles. There's going to be beadwork, ribbon skirts, there's gas cards, meal cards,' family friend Ella Pretty Bonnet said.
Her body was discovered in Madison Street on January 19th when the weather was brutally cold. The event will honor Cassie, and her loved ones don't want it to be a solemn day.
'It's going to be a good energy kind of day. We're not going to, you know, try to make it a sad thing. I want it to be happy because we're going to be honoring her. You know, we're going to be it's her birthday is going to be her day, you know?' Pretty Bonnet said.
However, her loved ones still want to have a clearer picture of the events leading up to her death.
'We need answers and we need to know what these people know, whoever knows anything. So we won't really grieve until then, but we'll just try to keep each other up, you know, as much as we can and be there for each other,' Gayton said.
And as friends and family prepare to honor Cassie on her birthday, they have one request.
'Just step up and say something if you know something. Somebody know something out there and we need those answers. So we can all heal. Otherwise we're just going to be at a loss, be lost trying to figure everything out ourselves,' Gayton said.
If you have any information about Cassie's death, contact the Minnehaha County Sheriff's office or crime stoppers.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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