SARASOTA, Fla. — An arrest has been made after a woman’s body was found last month near the Centennial Park boat ramp in Sarasota.
Police have now identified that woman as Kelliann Ripley. She was a mother, a big sister, and a grandmother known for being a free spirit, ready to encourage anyone around her to chase their dreams.
“She was just always open to loving other people,” her daughter, Kristen, said.
Her brother Jason echoed the same sentiment saying, “She was always there when I needed her.”
Now, Ripley’s Ohio-based family has had to say goodbye. Kristen remembers the last time they spoke.
“She would always get a new phone. She could never keep up with one phone, or she would break it or something,” Kristen said. “I talked to her, I wanna say, around New Year’s. She was just texting me like, 'Happy New Year, baby girl! I love you and I’m so proud of you.'”
Kristen and Jason say Kelliann struggled with mental health issues and sobriety, but that she was working to try and move in with another friend on a similar journey to have a support system in Florida.
“I prayed for her every night,” Jason said. “Every night I prayed for her.”
As Kelliann’s family tries to remember her as the sister who choreographed dance routines, or the mother who loved to video chat with her grandkids, tonight, they’re hoping that no other family has to deal with this pain.
“If you have a loved one that you haven’t spoken to in a while, try to get a hold of them,” Jason said. “Because you just don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Kristen says, this all still seems surreal.
“Knowing the way that she was killed, and how cold it was, knowing that somebody would actually do that…it’s just a shock to me,” she said. “Knowing that it would happen to her.”