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Services Tuesday for Jodi Sanderholm

By DAVID ALLEN SEATON
Traveler Staff Writer

Authorities Thursday morning had not confirmed the identification of a female body found Tuesday in southeastern Cowley County, but the family of Jodi Sanderholm is confident that it is their 19-year-old daughter and will proceed with her funeral arrangements, said Rev. Charles Grant, First United Methodist Church, Thursday morning.

"The only people who have seen the body are the police, and I guess now the coroner in Wichita," Grant said. "We're confident enough that we need to proceed. Otherwise life is on hold and on standby until you get past that funeral time."

An obituary for Jodi Sanderholm appears in today's paper on page eight.

The family is expecting big crowds -- 2,000 or so -- for the memorial and are planning an 11 a.m. service Tuesday at W.S. Scott Auditorium at Cowley College. Sanderholm was a Cowley danceline member, Grant said.

"They're doing about as well as can be expected," he said of the Sanderholm family. Support from family and friends and the greater Ark City community has helped, he added. "One comment they made was that we didn't know we had so many friends."

Grant said the family has experienced ups and downs since Jodi disappeared. They feared the worst when police told them they found clothes and mail belonging to Jodi in southeast Cowley County.

"But then we spent a day without the body (being found) and then hope began to emerge," he said.

Trackers found the body early Tuesday morning about 8 miles from the Cowley County Fishing Lake, from where they pulled Jodi's car Tuesday afternoon.

Residents here continue to struggle with the reality that one of their own met with such a horrific end and that another is suspected in such a disturbing crime.

Jodi was heavily involved in dance as a performer and instructor. The Ark City Dance studio has become a gathering place for friends and family to pray, console each other and honor Jodi.

The studio is ordering T-shirts to sell for about $15 that will go to a memorial fund. Orders will be taken at (620) 442-8298, owner Terri Schroeder said Thursday. "We'll take orders for a couple of weeks," she said. "If it's overwhelming and we need to place a second order, we'll do so."

The dance facility is also taking orders for $5 window stickers that will be available Friday, she said.

A fund has been started at Union State Bank to defray expenses for the Sanderholm family, which owns Ark City Glass. The family may use it to endow a scholarship fund.

To contribute, visit any Union State Bank location, or mail your check to: Sanderholm Family Fund, c/o Union State Bank, 127 S. Summit, Arkansas City, KS 67005.

Above: An Arkansas City Danceline member wears a T-shirt in memory of Jodi Sanderholm.