TOMPKINSVILLE — In an outdoor setting that Laynee Wallace would have loved, more than 200 people came together Thursday night to remember the blue-eyed, blonde tike whose tiny body was found in a well in the Nobob community in Barren County last month.

Laynee was 2 years old. Her cause of death has not been released.

Police began looking for Laynee on May 19 after receiving a call from 279 East Temple Hill Road in Monroe County about a missing toddler. Laynee was missing since May 17 but wasn’t reported missing until two days later, according to Kentucky State Police news releases. Her body was found in a well May 25.

Keithena Holman of Smiths Grove, who is a friend of Laynee’s father, Tyler Lee, organized Thursday night’s public memorial service at the Darrell Carter Memorial Stadium. 

“She was all around, 100 percent Daddy’s girl,” Lee of Glasgow said before the service. “She loved being outside. She liked to walk the trails in the woods.

“She liked spending time in the shop,” he said.

Anytime Lee worked in his father’s auto shop or the shop of a friend, if Laynee was with him, she was by his side trying to use the tools.

“She loved picking up tools and banging on something,” he said. 

When father and daughter walked the aisles of Wal-Mart, Laynee would bypass the dolls and head straight for the trucks and Power Wheels.

Lee was visibly touched by the public outpouring of support from friends and strangers who came to pay their respects to his little girl, who is survived by her twin sister, Kynlee.

“It’s overwhelming,” Lee said. “I’ve never wanted for anything, but I’ve never been handed anything either. For someone to do this voluntarily for me and for my little girl, it’s just overwhelming,” Lee said.

Holman, who is an intensive care unit nurse at The Medical Center at Bowling Green, said the public memorial service was needed to give both Lee and the community closure to the tragedy.

“As a nurse, I know closure is an important part of the grieving process,” she said.

Holman has three children and said she has wiped more tears from their eyes over the loss of Laynee than of anything else.

The loss has been “devastating,” she said.

“Everybody has so many unanswered questions,” Holman said.

Police began a manhunt for Anthony Barbour on May 19. Barbour is the boyfriend of Laynee’s biological mother, Kelsey Wallace. State police captured Barbour on May 25. About an hour later, they found Laynee’s body. Barbour is charged with kidnapping an adult, first-degree burglary, custodial interference and resisting arrest.

“There is still an open investigation being conducted by Post 3 of the Kentucky State Police relating to the death of Laynee Wallace,” Barren County Commonwealth’s Attorney John Gardner said in a news release Tuesday. “The Commonwealth anticipates presenting charges against Anthony Barbour at the next scheduled meeting of the Barren County grand jury. These charges will relate to Laynee’s death and Mr. Barbour’s conduct after her death. The grand jury is not scheduled to meet again until the end of June.”

Barbour is accused in Barren County of breaking into the 440 Temple Hill Road home of Brenda Woods about 1 p.m. May 25. He waited for her to leave, entered the home with a .22-caliber rifle and waited for her to return, according to Barbour’s arrest citation. When Woods returned home, Barbour forced her to drive him to an unknown location, according to the citation.

Woods stopped briefly on Temple Hill Road. A state police detective saw Woods stop and pulled Woods’ truck over on Tompkinsville Road at the Temple Hill Fire Department outside Glasgow, according to the citation and a news release from KSP. Barbour was taken into custody.

Heather Johnson of Glasgow knows both of Laynee’s parents and Barbour. She was delivering remembrance T-shirts Thursday night prior to the service. The shirts were sold to create a trust fund for Laynee’s twin sister.

“It’s devastating because it’s a small community. You never expect something like this to happen,” Johnson said.

During the memorial service, Lee sat in the front row with his fiancee, Megan Bunch.

A tiny lit candle was on the ground at Lee’s feet.

From a wooden podium set up near the football field, Holman called people forward to read poems dedicated to Laynee, and Munfordville preacher Dwayne Cook of Rowletts Baptist Church urged everyone to pray for Laynee’s family as they work through their loss. The podium was flanked by two large portraits of Laynee.

“I just encourage you to lean on the lord,” he said.

A Barren County High School student, Chase Samuels, 16, sang and led the children in singing “This Little Light of Mine” prior to releasing dozens of pink and white balloons. He does not know any of Laynee’s family or friends. He volunteered to help after seeing Holman’s social media post asking for someone to sing at the service.

Lee wept as Holman and many others hugged him after the service. 

— Follow Assistant City Editor Deborah Highland on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNCrimebeat or visit bgdailynews.com.