FORDYCE, Ark. (KTHV) - There was a memorial service and candlelight vigil in Fordyce Wednesday night for Nancy Harvill.
She's the woman who authorities found beaten and buried in the back of her home a few weeks ago in a case allegedly covered up by some relatives for more than a year.
About 30 people came out to pay their final respects to 34-year-old Nancy Harvill.
Gathering at a funeral home first, there were family, teachers who taught Harvill's two young boys and high school classmates reliving fond memories.
"It was ecstatic, it brought back happy memories," Sharonda Clark said.
"It put a smile on my face definitely," Melody Harris said.
Sharonda Clark and Melody Harris loved seeing a high school graduation picture of Nancy Harvill Wednesday as part of a tribute to their former friend and classmate.
"A contagious smile, laughter, kind, sweet, she will be greatly missed by the Class of 1997," Harris said.
More than 15 years later, the two friends were part of the crowd at Harvill's memorial service and shaken by her death.
"This act was so senseless and cruel and she was not a person like that," Harris said.
Dallas County authorities found Harvill's body buried in a shed at her home Jan. 8. They've since arrested two of Harvill's step-brothers and her stepmom for allegedly beating her to death and covering up the murder for more than a year.
"I hear about it every day," Gary Harvill said.
Gary Harvill is Nancy's husband, but the two separated four years ago.
"I still kept in contact with her though," Gary Harvill said.
He made sure to be there Wednesday and remember the good about their marriage.
"I drove a truck, and Nancy would go with me, and I thought it was a blessing for me and her to see all these different states that in life we would never get to see," Gary Harvill said.
It's something to treasure about a woman he loved and these high school friends cherished.
"She was just an amazing girl," Clark said.
Nancy Harvill also had two boys, 10 and 7, who are now in DHS custody. Friends and family said she was a loving mom. Some of her boys' teachers were at the memorial service and said that their classmates miss those boys.
Dallas County Investigator Chuck Barker was also at Wednesday's service. He said there no new developments in this case since the three arrests. Barker told THV 11 at the start that this was apparently sparked by an argument over the care and treatment of Harvill's children.