Community remembers Aliahna Lemmon on the one year anniversary of her murder

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - This weekend marks the one year anniversary of the murder of nine-year-old Aliahna Lemmon.

Aliahna was first reported missing on Friday, December 23, 2011 . Police searched within a five mile radius of Northway Mobile Home Park in north Allen County. where she was last seen.

The search ended tragically the day after Christmas, Monday, December 26, 2011, when Aliahna's body was found in a family friend's nearby home.

"We were all out there searching for her, and it was a lost cause from the get go," Erica Nuttle, a member of Wings of Innocence, a group that raises money for charities, said.  "He knew where she was and he knew what had happened to her.  He didn't have the guts to tell anybody until the day after Christmas."

Aliahna and her sisters had been staying with Mike Plumadore, 39, for around a week prior to her death because their mother had been sick with the flu and Aliahna's stepfather worked at nights.

Police said Plumadore dismembered her body with a hack saw, stuffed her body in several bags and then put the body in his freezer.

Plumadore pleaded guilty to murder to all charges against him and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole in June 18, 2012.

After his sentencing, Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Karen Richards said prosecutors chose to fight for life without parole for the sake of Aliahna's family as death penalty cases can last longer and can potentially be thrown out.

The founder of Wings of Innocence Lindsey Brown said she did not want to see Plumadore spend the rest of his life behind bars.

"Look at Aliahna's sisters, what are they going to deal with for the rest of their lives," Brown said, while fighting back tears.  "Was that even taken into consideration when he was given his sentence.  This is a life sentence for these kids.  The dead ones and the ones that are still here.  These kids are going to suffer for the rest of their lives knowing what happened to their sister."

He also received 30 years for being a habitual offender, three for abuse of a corpse, and three for altering the scene of death for a total of 36 years on top of his life sentence.

Wings of Innocence is a group made up of women, mostly mothers, who raises money for local charities in honor of Aliahna Lemmon and other abused and neglected children.  The leaders of the group said they have asked Aliahna's family for permission to use her name.

So far, Wings of Innocence has held a balloon release in Aliahna's name, and has held a charity softball tournament with the proceeds going to Erin's House for Grieving Children.  The group plans to hold both events again in 2013.

The group's leaders hope to get laws passed to help prevent another story like Aliahna's from happening again.

"Aliahna was one of the most severe child deaths and abuse we've ever heard," Nuttle said.  "But it's still happening.  We want to fight to get stricter laws."