POCATELLO — When Josefina Sisneros buried her granddaughter Cassie Jo Stoddart eight years ago she placed a little ceramic angel on her tombstone. Using a permanent ink pen she wrote “Cassie” on the bottom of the figurine.

    Stoddart was brutally murdered in her aunt and uncle's home on Sept. 22, 2006 by her classmates at Pocatello High School, Brian Draper and Tory Adamcik.

    During the eighth annual “Pumpkins from Cassie” fundraiser for the Pocatello Animal Shelter and Idaho Food Bank Saturday, Sisneros explained that she always considered Cassie Jo her little angel.

    “She was always concerned about her grandma,” Sisneros said. “She was always looking out for me. I remember her smile and sense of humor.”

    Sisneros visits her granddaughter’s grave at least twice a week to place flowers and polish her headstone.

    “I keep it nice and pretty,” Sisneros said.

    Four years ago, the little angel was gone from the graveside. Sisneros figured it had been bumped off the headstone and became the victim of groundskeeping efforts.

    All that changed Tuesday. Sisneros was at the thrift store operated by the First Congregational Church near Pocatello High School. She was just looking at the items for sale when she spotted a little angel on the shelf. It looked familiar.

    “I picked it up and it had Cassie’s name on the bottom,” Sisneros said. “I knew it was Cassie’s because I wrote that.”

    Sisneros shared the revelation with a woman who was working at the thrift sale and said, “It gave her goosebumps.”

    Sisneros said she has no idea how the angel ended up in the thrift store.

    The recovery of a small figurine she had dedicated to her granddaughter was a welcome relief from the recurring nightmare of Cassie Jo’s murder.

    This month a lawyer for Adamcik was in court trying to get relief from his client’s sentence of life in prison without parole.

    “It’s like it happened yesterday,” Sisneros said about the murder.

    Sisneros attended the court hearing and said it was a painful experience. Sixth District Judge Mitchell Brown presided over the post-conviction relief hearing and he will determine if Adamcik’s civil rights were violated when he was convicted of the murder nearly eight years ago and sentenced to life in prison.

    “We just wish to have some closure and let my granddaughter rest in peace,” Sisneros said while taking a break from handing out pumpkins at the rear of the Round House Bar on South Main Street.

    People were donating cash or canned goods for hungry people or pets in exchange for the pumpkins.

    Round House owner Lori Bitton, who is a friend of the Sisneros family, said the annual event is a way to keep Cassie Jo’s memory alive. Bitton said the first year the event was held it was to help raise money for funeral costs and the headstone for the teen, and it was called “Pumpkins for Cassie.” Now it’s called Pumpkins from Cassie.

    “We changed the name the next year because this is Cassie’s memory giving back to the community,” Bitton said.

    The reason the Pocatello Animal Shelter is one of the recipients of donations from the event is a small one — a chihuahua named Tink. Tink came into Cassie’s life as a puppy when the girl was just 14 years old.

    After Cassie’s murder, the dog was perplexed, according to Bitton.

    “Tink waited for her to come home and she never did,” Bitton said. “It made me think about other pets who lose their owners. That’s when we decided to give some of the proceeds to the animal shelter.”

    Tink still lives with Cassie Jo’s mother, Anna Stoddart.

    Bitton said Saturday’s event was very successful and she is glad she has a chance to help remind the community what a loving and caring person Cassie Jo was.

    “I just wish she could have lived life to the fullest,” Bitton said. “But by doing this we can at least keep her memory alive.”

    Sisneros said the holiday season is always rough on the family because Cassie Jo’s birthday is Dec. 21. She would be celebrating her 25th birthday this year.

    Cassie is gone, but Sisneros said finding that angel from eight years ago is a miracle.

    “It’s just a little, tiny thing, but I’m glad to get that angel back,” she said.