Long time no post.

Found this one over the summer in front of a Phillips 66 Gas Station on Elm Street.

No name, no date, nothing... just a small tribute to someone who died at this street corner. A descansolito, if you will.

Kidnapped/murdered child?

A friend of mine saw this descanso recently in the city of St. Louis and he decided to take me to the spot so I could see it too. It's in a really bad neighborhood so I didn't get out of the car despite it being daylight. I snapped the photo quickly with my phone and he drove off.

This photo also begs the question: How does one make a descanso in the city? You rarely see white crosses on street sides.... and I have a feeling if there were, people could more easily deface or remove them versus say on an interstate where it's sort of dangerous to pull over even just to snap a photo (a whole separate post on that later!) It seems like photos of the deceased, some words written paper and taped to a telephone pole or tree, and stuffed animals in abundance are all common sights for a "city descanso." We saw another one like this but apparently the stuffed animals had since been removed/deteriorated/whatever and all that remained was a photo of the woman who was killed. But I couldn't really get a clear photo due to the photo being high up on a tree and partially obscured in darkness from the leaves and branches. But it seems like stuffed animals---maybe not just for kids---are a big part of the city memorials. I am not sure what happened to this little girl (or maybe she was a teen? or adult?) but there is a tiny white cross pinned to the side of the pole and one of the bears has signatures of friends and family all over. A crimestoppers yellow tape is wrapped around the top suggesting foul play. I don't think they've caught the criminal yet....it says call to leave tips.

Unknown Victim

This descanso was discovered today! I'd never noticed it before. It's right near the 370 on/off ramps in New Town/Elm Street.

It is a very old looking one...the letters and such are falling off, and I can't really discern a date or anything.

I think it used to read "Moore" but I am not entirely positive. (??) Any help identifying is appreciated! I am sure there is a story to be told....

The location of this cross makes it hard to stop to get a closer look--it would be too dangerous because of all of the on/off ramp traffic, so I had to snap a quick photo as I was driving by.