This week marks a year since the body of Bega woman Marnie-Lee Cave was found under a bridge at Tathra and the anguish is still understandably raw for her family and friends.
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Many took time out on Thursday to gather as a group at the site of a memorial to Ms Cave and remember the bubbly 26-year-old.
In a moving tribute last year, a “butterfly tree” was planted near to where she had been found, and friends and family once again gathered to mourn their “sister, best friend and a selfless, smiling soul”.
Close friend Patrick Aberdeen said, a year on, he still couldn’t believe she wasn’t here.
“I really miss my ‘sis’,” he said.
“You’re always in our hearts and watching over us all, sorely missed.”
Others also shared their thoughts and tributes to their friend.
“She was my best friend,” said Scotty T. “She never asked for anything, but always gave, and for that Marnie will be number one in all our hearts. Rest in peace.”
Kira H said “Bega is just not the same without your cheerfulness”.
“You were my bigger sis I never had. I will always remember you.”
“Your soul is one of a kind and you are surely missed,” Kat D added.
Debbie G said “we love and miss you so much” and that every time she saw a butterfly “I always think of you”.
Tracey B said memories of “beautiful Marnie” were always close to her and her children.
“Not a day goes by that we don't miss you, not a day goes by that we don’t think about you,” she said.
“We all love you and miss you.”
Debbie K has been entrusted with caring for Ms Cave’s cat, which in a heart-warming turn of events gave birth to a litter of three kittens last week.
“How much I’ve missed and needed you in the last 12 months, but you’re not around,” Debbie said.
“Always in my heart and thoughts.”
Patrick said he was confident “justice would prevail” soon allowing Ms Cave to “rest easy”.
The Bega woman charged with Ms Cave’s murder has been committed to stand trial, with the matter scheduled for the NSW Supreme Court on November 4.
Rosemary Priscilla Mackie has been in custody since her arrest in December 2015 and is yet to enter a plea.