When the Middleton family packed off their only daughter Rebecca to stay with a school friend in the summer of 1996 they thought they had done their homework.

They knew she would be well looked after by Rick Meens, the father of Rebbeca?s school friend Jasmine and a family friend who had emigrated to Bermuda from Belleville, Ontario in 1989.

Even so mom Cindy had given it a lot of consideration.

?You don?t just let your kids go off to stay with someone for six weeks without putting a lot of thought behind it.?

The girls wrote Cindy a letter begging for permission ? which was granted by way of a note left in a Bermuda guide book she gave Becky saying ?Yes, you can!?.

Cindy recalled: ?Becky was ecstatic to go, thrilled but a little apprehensive.

?One time we were sitting out having dinner she said ?What if I get lonesome??. I said, ?you can phone anytime or come home anytime?.

?Wayne said to her when you are lonely just look up at the moon, when you see the moon you know we are looking at the moon too, thinking of you.

?After Becky died every full moon is heart wrenching. It?s kind of weird he said that way back then.?

The Middletons viewed Bermuda as a safe place.

Her mother Cindy said: ?I remember Becky saying Bermuda wasn?t a place where you can wear your bathing suit on the bus. You have to be covered. I thought that is good.

?I thought it was one of the safest places to go. I would never have let my daughter go to Jamaica but I felt Becky was safe going to Bermuda.?

The advisory which came with the ticket gave her further confidence.

So Becky set off on June 27, 1996. Phone calls home told how the teen was having a wonderful time. She celebrated her 17th birthday away.

?All she talked about was how beautiful Bermuda is. Becky was a water person so being surrounded by the ocean ? she was in her element.?

Playing with Jasmine?s four-year-old brother also gave the teens hours of fun.

Becky?s first letter home arrived after she had died, full of praise for the island ? and shock about the high price of the stamp.

Opening what she knew would be the last letter she would ever receive from her child was a particularly poignant moment for Cindy.

?When Becky died I just wanted to grab hold of anything that is Becky or was Becky. I never wanted to let go of anything that was physically hers. So to get that letter was like a blessing.

?It was nice to know when she was alive she was having a good time ? that there was no homesickness in it.?

Now all Cindy has is mementoes and memories after her daughter met her violent end.

Letting go has been a gradual process for Cindy.

?At first you just grab everything to still feel connected because you can?t ever put your arms around her so you touch everything else.

?I would keep things for two or three years thinking I would never get rid of it. Then I would think ? somebody would like this.?

Becky?s bedroom stayed the same with all her stuffed toys on the bed. Often they would find the family dog Woody buried under them.

?When we couldn?t find him he would be there, nestled so you could hardly see him. I think dogs have a second sense ? I think he knew Becky wasn?t coming back.?

Eventually Cindy was able to let go of some of her daughter?s possessions ? free to a good home.

?Becky?s friends would come over and I would say would you like something of Becky?s? I would say ?Pick a stuffed toy ? or something that means something to you?. Some of my granddaughters still play with Becky?s toys.

One keepsake still has pride of place and is going nowhere.

?Every year at Christmas I hang a little pair of Becky?s shoes from her first Christmas on the tree.?

Becky had been an easy baby to raise, remembered Cindy, even if her arrival proved a disappointment to Matthew, nearly four when Becky was born. He had wanted a younger brother and was disappointed when the tiny pink wrapped bundle was brought home.

But Becky?s parents were thrilled. Becky?s father Dave, who had split from Cindy before Becky made that fateful trip to Bermuda, recalls his joy at having a daughter after having two sons. Born in 1979 the family joked that she was the Middleton?s contribution to the year of the child.

Dave remembers a house packed with neighbourhood kids with Becky always in the middle of it all.

?At birthday parties you would always see a whole crowd of girls around Becky.?

Becky was sporty, loving baseball, fishing and skiing. But eventually she preferred to hang out with friends watching her brothers play sport.

Cindy said: ?Becky made our family complete.?

Warm and outgoing Becky easily made friends with neighbourhood kids in the quiet Ontario town of Belleville. Some stayed pals all the way through her short life. Doting grandparents took her shopping.

Other adults took to her too, liking her maturity.

?She wouldn?t make rash comments just because someone didn?t have the right hairstyle. She saw beyond that.

?She was concerned about other people and put them before herself.

?Most kids are dying to get their drivers licence but she didn?t want to. She said: ?What if I hurt someone??.?

Despite her sporty past Becky was just showing an interest in mathematics ? something which she had never previously liked.

Asked what she would be doing now if she had lived, Cindy ? a 54-year-old administrator for the Canadian Government said: ?Becky was a true people person, she would be in something dealing with people.

?She got on well with all kinds of people. Even as young kid she could talk to adults. Some kids are so stuck on themselves so they think old people are boring. She never had that attitude.

?Everybody loved Becky. I don?t think you would find anyone who had a bad word to say to her. She was very caring.?

And Belleville, known as the friendly city, showed it cared for Becky too.

Hundreds of mourners packed out the 1,500 seat Bridge Street United Church for her funeral.

?There were people who couldn?t get in because it was so full. It was so great to see Becky had so many friends.?

Even customers from the gas station where she had worked for three years came to the church.

?Becky knew all the clients there, they had such a good rapport.

?To see that outpouring, the cards people would write, the stories you heard that you didn?t know ? that was heartwarming ? this is for you Becky.?

But the Middletons are determined to not let the tragedy that befell Becky ruin their own lives.

?We have moved forward all along,? said Cindy. ?Life is beautiful, things happen. We are not the only family this has happened to. We have survived. We certainly have a deep void in our life now Becky is not here.

?We all miss Becky but the part that annoys me the most is what was taken from Becky. Not that she was taken from us but what was taken from her ? her chance to enjoy life and enjoy all the things we have been able to.

?There are three nieces that she will never get to see. If I could change place with my daughter in a minute I would.?