NEW PLYMOUTH, Idaho (CBS 2) — This year, classmates of 8-year-old Robert Manwill will graduate from high school.
It's been almost 10 years now since Robert was first found dead in the New York Canal in Ada County.
CBS 2 News spoke with some of Robert's classmates. Most of the students remember Robert as a happy kid who loved playing with his Pokémon cards at recess.
The memories they have of the summer he went missing and was ultimately found dead, they say, are more confusing.
“I didn't know what was going on,” said one of Robert’s closest friend, Russel Cope. “I knew he was missing and some bad stuff happened to him, but no one really explained that to me when I was younger.”
Robert was reported missing in the summer of 2009. After a massive search, Ada County Sheriff’s deputies found his body in the New York Canal.
The autopsy showed signs of physical abuse which led to the charging and conviction of Robert’s mother and step-father.
For most of Robert’s classmates, it took a couple years for them to fully understand what happened.
But, they say, once they did it was hard to stop thinking about it.
“It was really hard for me to realize that someone in our grade that this was happening to him at home,” said one classmate, Clara Gallegos. “And, as young as he was, he wouldn’t tell anybody.”
Robert’s second grade teacher says she remembers feeling guilty after she found out he been abused for a while.
“Originally, we felt like we had let him down because we couldn’t protect him,” said teacher Christy Norris. “But, the laws were the laws, and his mother had to have some custody of him.”
Now, 10 years later, Norris and her students are trying to remember Robert in a different way.
“We want to take something terrible that happened and turn it into something awesome for a kid here, who might not get the chance to go on and do something with their education,” Norris said.
After his death, a scholarship fund was set up in Robert’s name. Over the past 10 years, they also raised money in an art auction in his name.
This year, $47,000 dollars will be split into four $10,000 scholarships. The remaining $7,000 will be dispersed by the 4 Rivers Healthy Community.
And, Robert’s classmates and teachers will forever carry on another way to remember him.
“Awareness for child abuse and how detrimental it is to just how horrible it is,” Gallegos said. “Like, hurting children, I can’t even imagine what he had to go through. You can see the impacts that our community still feel because of what happened.”
The scholarships will be awarded to the students on April 27 at a run they also do in Robert’s honor called the Manwill Mile.
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