OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Last month, a father and his two daughters were found dead inside a Winneconne home. Now, a family friend of the victims is sharing more about their memory.
Carmen Leal's knees aren't what they used to be, limiting her ability to tend to her garden. She sent out a request for assistance, looking to hire a weeder — and that connected her to Jaelyn and Lenora Manke's family.
Leal hired 16-year-old Jaelyn, the elder of the two sisters, to help with her garden; which features hydrangeas, cone flowers and black-eyed Susans.
"You know what, it wasn't until I learned the news that I realized that we were actually pretty close," Leal said. "We talked about all kinds of things. I mean, she knew about my son's struggle with his custody battle. People pass through our life and we don't really know the impact they have on us until after they're gone."
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The black-eyed Susans in the garden hold special meaning for Leal.
"Black-eyed Susans are my favorite because they stand for resiliency," Leal said. "And a lot of people don't know, but after fire, the black-eyed Susans are the first to come back. I just have a vision of that little heart in her mother that looks just like Jaelyn, is filled with all my flowers."
Leal shared that Jaelyn saved her gardening money to help a friend buy a ticket to the music festival Lifest — a selfless gift that Leal says fit right in with Jaelyn's personality.
"Jaylen was a marvelous dancer. She loved music. She loved gardening. She loved taekwondo," Leal said. "Those girls were fierce, but I can a million percent guarantee you every gift that she had went to her community, to her family, to her friends."
Earlier this month, NBC 26 obtained court records showing a restraining order had been filed against Jeffrey Manke — the father — earlier this year. The restraining order noted that Manke had access to guns.
Links to fundraisers benfitting the surviving family members can be found here and here.
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