TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - Since Elaina Steinfurth went missing in July, family, friends and the community have gathered weekly at the house on Federal Street where she was last seen for a vigil.
Those vigils were usually held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but an additional vigil was held Friday evening for everyone to come together after the latest developments in the case.
A press conference was held Friday morning, during which Toledo Police confirmed that the human remains found in a box Thursday belonged to a small child.
Family members say even though this is not how they wanted their search to end, they want closure now, and answers.
"After yesterday, I now feel we are moving to where we're going to get our answers, quicker than what we thought," said Terry Steinfurth, Elaina's grandfather.
For three months, everyone has been waiting to find Elaina, waiting to understand what happened the day she went missing, and waiting for closure.
"If it ends up the way we think it's going to end up now, it's not the way we wanted it to end," Steinfurth said. "But it will give us closure, and that's what we really wanted."
Police executed a search warrant Thursday of 704 Federal Street, the last place Elaina was seen. That's when they found the box in a nearby garage. Officials are waiting on DNA results to confirm the identity of the body, but TPD Chief Derrick Diggs said they believe it may have been Elaina.
It's a very hard thing, to look down that road and to know that we march around that block every vigil, and know that she was right under our feet," said Ginger Smith, Elaina's cousin. "She was right there all along."
Friday's vigil brought the largest crowd yet to Federal Street. Hundreds of people came together and marched in honor of Elaina.