NEW ORLEANS — It's been one year since three children were lost in the Mississippi River.
Ally Berry Wilson, 8, Brandy Wilson, 14, and 15-year-old Kevin Poole were pulled in by the river's current. Ally's body was never found.
On Sunday, their family returned to the place where it happened
"I still don't have closure," Ally and Brandy's mother Octavia Wilson said. "My daughter is in that river somewhere. But there is a God. There is a God and without him I don't know where I'd be today."
Just blocks away, Mardi Gras Indians began their march for Westbank Super Sunday. Organizers dedicated this year's festival to the three children.
Mike Willis was there one year ago when the community came together to find the three children.
"I never experienced something like that in my life," he said. "To be actually on the river looking for kids for weeks. We never found Ally."
Now, it's his mission to help children all over New Orleans by giving families a place where they can come together without having to look over their shoulder, worrying about violence or crime.
That was the mission for this year's West Fest.
"We’re too divided. We’ve got to put love back into everything," Willis said. "We have to put a stop to this y’all. Y’all see these kids. Look at 'em. They got kids in strollers. They got kids in wagons. We got families sitting with they chairs out here, that’s what this is about. And if y’all ain't about this, shame on you."
It's a mission the Mohawk Hunters carried with them as they marched through the streets, sharing their traditions with the next generation.
"This is about the community," Flag Boy Zulu of the Mohawk Hunters, Jamal Casby said. "We sew these suits. Nobody pays us to do this. We do this for free because we're able. Not because we want to. We have to. Because somebody's got to show them that there's a bright side. Because New Orleans is a great city, man."
That bright side can be hard to see after the deaths of three children. Even a year later. But when the community comes together, it's hard to miss.
"It's been a whole year to today since the last time I've seen my kids," Octavia Wilson said. "But today, we're going to celebrate life. We're going to have fun and enjoy ourselves like they would have if they were still here."
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