CEDAR CITY — A mother who is still grieving the loss of her son is making a desperate plea to members of the community to keep an eye out for a Granite Mountain Hotshots flag — a cherished item she says was stolen from her yard.
At the Ekker house, this time of year is always tough.
“He loved what he was doing and he loved the people,” Gayemarie Ekker said of her late son.
“We lost the boys on the 30th of June,” Ekker said.
The “boys” Ekker is referring to are the Granite Mountain Hotshots crew out of Prescott, Arizona. On that day in 2013, 19 wildland firefighters lost their lives battling the Yarnell Hill Fire, including Ekker’s son, Joe Thurston.
“Joe loved being a firefighter,” she said. “His nickname with the crew was ‘Utah,’” she said.
The families of those lost received Hotshot flags at the cemetery to remember their loved ones. Each year, from the June 25 to July 7, they proudly display the flag.
“I don’t think people really understand about wildland firefighters,” she said. “They run toward danger when everyone else runs away.”
The flag went missing sometime on Saturday.
“That flag represents so much,” Ekker said through tears.
Following the loss of the flag, Ekker put out a box with a sign asking for its safe return.
“Somebody stole the cinder block out of the box, and that was the final blow,” she said.
Her heart still aches for her son every day.
“Every morning I run out to see if someone might have put it (the flag) back,” she said. “I hope somebody will know somebody and the flag will come home.”
She knows her son will never come home, but she’s holding onto hope the symbol representing his sacrifice will.
“I can’t believe my Cedar City has a person in this community that I love so dearly that would break my heart,” she said.
Anyone with information about the flag are asked to contact the Cedar City Police Department at 435-586-2956.