WAKE FOREST — Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of a story that gripped and devastated the Triangle -- the kidnapping and murder of C.J. Wilkerson. Friends and family gathered to remember the little boy.

Wilkerson's stepfather, Derrick Glover, kidnapped the 9-year-old boy after C.J.'s mother, Tracey Gill, told Glover to move out of the house. Glover said that Wilkerson became unruly, so he strangled him.

Four months of searching ended when Glover told police where the boy's body was located. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

The family wants to keep Wilkerson's spirit alive, letting people know to keep their kids safe and remember missing children everywhere. They gathered Friday evening at the site where the boy's body was discovered for a candlelight vigil.

"He's in Heaven now, and his life was not taken in vain," says Rev. David Cameron Sr., who organized the vigil. "Other children may know that by his passing, other people are becoming aware by saying, 'Stop the madness.'"

There will be a service to remember Wilkerson Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Worthdale Community Center in Raleigh.