MARION — Holidays are supposed to be about joy and spending time with family. One family in Marion has to visit the cemetery every year to do that.
It's been nearly five years since 23-year-old David Wise was killed and despite the case going cold, his mother has never stopped looking for who killed her son.
David Wise was a son, a brother and a father to two young children. The family has spent the past five years wondering who killed him.
"For Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, I take my grandchildren to the graveyard to eat a meal with their daddy," Stephanie Wise, David's mother, said. "They can't hug him. They can't kiss him."
Wise was found near 8th and D streets in Marion on Jan. 3, 2015. His body was left on the Cardinal Greenway Trail.
"Devastating like I replay Jan. 3 every day in my head," Stephanie said. "When I close my eyes I see my son laying in that casket. It's aggravating. I want to know what happened to my child. He's a human being and we love this kid right here. He would give you his shirt off his back."
The family wants answers and justice.
"The killer gets to spend time with their family but we never get to see him again," Briana Wise, David's sister, said. "He was a family man. He had a son and a daughter he never met."
RTV6 spoke with officials at the Marion Police Department. They said investigators have pursued every possible lead they've had so far, but haven't found any new information that's led them to a suspect in the case.
Police have solved 19 of 26 homicide cases in Marion since 2012. Families of seven victims hope their day comes soon.
