As lighting flashed and thunder roared Wednesday evening in the skies over McCleary, Melissa Baum spoke to dozens of candle-holding community members.

“It’s been a long 10 years,” she said, since her daughter, Lindsey, was abducted and murdered on that day a decade before.

The community had gathered to dedicate a remembrance garden for Lindsey at Beerbower Park.

While Lindsey’s killer has not been caught, Baum said, the dedication was not about the investigation. She said the garden was a place where Lindsey’s “spirit could be felt, her laughter be heard.”

Local singer/songwriter Ericka Corban opened the dedication with a rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” then turned the microphone over to Michelle Ames, who spearheaded the effort to make the garden a reality.

Ames thanked the dozens of volunteers and many local businesses that helped with the garden, then introduced Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott, who has been with the investigation into Lindsey’s abduction and murder since she first disappeared June 26, 2009, on a 10-minute walk home from a friend’s house to her own, not far from where her garden now stands.

Scott recognized the agencies working with the Sheriff’s Office on the case, including the FBI, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and, since Lindsey’s remains were found in remote country in Central Washington in fall 2017, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office.

“We’ve worked seamlessly together,” Scott said. “We’ve put tens of thousands of hours (into the investigation) and will keep at it until we bring this case to a close.

“And we will bring it to close,” Scott said.

Corban returned and performed “See You Again,” a song that Melissa Baum told Corban “has gotten her through some dark times over the last decade.”

DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Ericka Corban performs Wednesday at the Lindsey Baum remembrance garden dedication at Beerbower Park in McCleary. At left is the butterfly bench purchased by an anonymous donor.

DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Melissa Baum speaks Wednesday in McCleary at the remembrance garden dedicated to the memory of her daughter, Lindsey, who was abducted from the city in 2009.

DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Michelle Ames, right, welcomes everyone who attended the dedication of the Lindsey Baum remembrance garden Wednesday in McCleary. She thanked the many volunteers, the city of McCleary and local businesses who made the garden possible.

DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott assured those in attendance at the Lindsey Baum remembrance garden dedication Wednesday that his department and partner agencies will continue to pursue the person responsible for the 10-year-old girl’s abduction and murder a decade ago.

DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott watches local singer/songwriter Ericka Corban perform “See You Again” at the Lindsey Baum remembrance garden dedication Wednesday in McCleary.

DAN HAMMOCK | GRAYS HARBOR NEWS GROUP Volunteers offered T-shirts, wrist bands, magnets and other items bearing the image of Lindsey Baum on Wednesday at the remembrance garden dedication in McCleary. At left is Michelle Ames, who organized the volunteer efforts to put the garden in Beerbower Park, not far from where Lindsey, her brother, Josh, and mother, Melissa, lived when Lindsey was abducted in 2009.