A sea of mourners have turned out in Gatton this afternoon to farewell local teen Jayde Kendall.
Marking three weeks since the 16 year olds body was located in an Upper Tent Hill paddock, family and friends came together today to remember a bubbly, determined teen with bright eyes and fluffy hair.
A girl with a love of glitter, fashion, art and an undeniable love for her family, the sheer number of those present spoke volumes about her likable personality.
Dressed in Jayde’s favourite colour, close to a thousand, mourners gathered at the Gatton Sports Centre. The tears shed signifying the Gatton community is still doing it tough.
Jayde’s father Bruce Morrissey made his first appearance since she disappeared almost five weeks ago, fighting back tears as he spoke of a beautiful girl who made the unfortunate mistake of putting her trust in someone she thought needed help.
Mr Morrissey urged the community to learn from his daughters death by ensuring they are careful.
“If we are to learn from this I think the message would be for younger people to fully understand what you do and the decisions that you make,” Mr Morrissey said.
He thanked the community for their outpouring of love and support during this challenging time.
“For sixteen years I’ve had the pleasure of being Jayde’s father and watch her grow from a new born to the promising young girl she had worked so hard to become,” Mr Morrissey said.
“Life for myself and my son will never be the same after losing both Jayde and her mother.
Possessing strength far beyond his years, Jayde’s ten year old brother Brandon thanked everyone involved in the exhaustive search for his sister.
“I’d to to just say a big thanks to all the community, schools and everybody who helped with us finding Jayde,” Brandon said.
Jayde was a motivated and driven teen with aspirations of attending university and studying psychology.
She was dedicated to her studies and, worked part time at her local McDonalds and was a well respected member of the ‘Maccas family’.
Manager of McDonalds Gatton, Shane Doyle also addressed the mourners supported by a purple army of Jayde’s work mates.
“Jayde was part of our McDonalds family for a little over twelve months,” Mr Doyle said.
“She was recently promoted to a new role as a create your last hostess… which placed Jayde front and centre as a brand ambassador for McDonalds and in this role she excelled.”
Jayde was a valued member of the McDonald’s team and Mr Doyle said the last few weeks had been very difficult for all the team.
“She would be proud as I am in the way the rest of her team mates have supported each other over the last few weeks,” he said
“They have shown courage, compassion and a level of care for each others well being far beyond their years.”
“I’m proud of how they’ve supported each other of the last few weeks
Jayde was laid to rest in a private burial yesterday.
