LITTLETON, Colo. — Balloons, candles and a sea of purple emerged Sunday evening as family and friends of Paul Aragon gathered together for a candlelight vigil and to call for justice.
His family first reported him missing on May 8 after not hearing from him. Denver7 reported that the Broomfield Police Department had found his truck in a construction area off Edgeview Drive near the WoodSpring Suites hotel on May 2, where his dog was still inside. On August 26, human remains were found across the street from the Flatirons Vista Trailhead and were identified as Aragon by the Boulder County Coroner's Office.
Sunday was the first time Aragon's family and friends gathered, with many wearing his favorite color — purple — to honor his memory and turn to the community for help in figuring out what happened.
"We're just asking for answers, anybody else there that might know something just to come forward, you know, give us peace," Aragon's aunt Tina Gallegos said. "We're grateful and We're honored that we're going to be able to bury Paul, but there's a lot of unanswered questions that we would like."
Gallegos describes Aragon as an "amazing dad, brother, and amazing human." She believes "something happened and somebody knows."
"We want justice for Paul. I pray that somebody else there will come forward and give us some kind of help, some answers that the police are more willing to start really looking into what happened and give us the justice that he deserves," Gallegos said.
Denver7 reached out to the Boulder County Sheriff's Office for an update on the investigation and were told, "there is no update at this time." We also reached out to the Broomfield Police Department and did not hear back when this story ran.
Besides wearing purple, some wore T-shirts with Aragon's face on them and messages to him. Aragon's 13-year-old daughter Kiele wore a rosary with purple beads with his face on it to remember her dad.
"It's hard, especially in school, to like, try to keep my grades up and stuff, and then having all my friends see the news and stuff and asking me if I'm okay and stuff and just like constantly reminding me of it," Kiele Aragon said.
At such a young age, she is left processing her life without him. She's now left hoping that "he's still smiling and telling jokes to people, and that he's just staying the same."
Aragon's sister, Jonise, reflected on the immense emotions that come with the candlelight vigil and the importance of honoring him now months later.
"I'm honestly, I'm excited to hear all these stories just about him, just because I know he's such a light and such a good spirit," Jonise Aragon said. "But obviously, I want to get my brother justice, figure out what happened to him, just to kind of heal all of us a little bit more. I know it'll never replace him being here for sure, but it'll help in the process."
Moving forward, Jonise is asking anyone who knows anything to come forward, as she hopes to find answers as to what happened months ago.
"I ask for someone to be held responsible," Jonise Aragon said. " I just know my brother didn't do this himself, and he would want to be home with us. So, in any way that we can just give him some sort of reassurance that we're still out here, we're fighting for him."
