In the home of Courtney Sayer is a soccer ball covered in scrawled blue signatures.
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Pride of place is “Steph Scott #10”.
Once that ball represented jubilation, today is stands as a source of intense sadness.
“Steph was just this bubbly, kind and caring girl ... she was just a beautiful person,” Ms Sayer, 20, of Gillieston Heights, said.
“And every night I light a candle for her.”
Stephanie Scott’s life came to a most tragic end almost two weeks ago when she was allegedly killed by Leeton High School cleaner Vincent Stanford.
Her charred remains were found in the isolated Cocoparra National Park, in country NSW, on Friday night.
The young high school teacher from Leeton was to marry her fiancé the following day.
Ms Sayer and Ms Scott met in 2009 when the two girls played for the same soccer team in Wagga Wagga for three years.
“I was scrolling through my Facebook feed on the Monday before Steph’s wedding and there were reports she was missing and posts from people calling for her to come home,” Ms Sayer said.
“I was actually asleep when mum came in and asked me had I heard the news that Stephanie [aged 26] has been murdered.
“Steph and I always stayed friends ... I’m just so devastated.”
Since Ms Scott’s murder, a yellow-themed movement has spread across the country with brides pinning their dresses to front doors and many Australians releasing brightly coloured balloons into the sky.
This Sunday, Ms Sayer will follow suit with a ceremony at her home.
“It’s extremely important for me to do this,” she said.
“I wasn’t able to go down to Leeton while everything was happening and help search for her, so it means a lot to me to do something, at least.
“I think everyone is just trying to get through this as a community and to support the two families who are struggling most at the moment.
“And I think in some way Stephanie would be very proud of the movement this has created and I think she would feel extremely loved.
“The world has lost a beautiful soul.”