CARBONDALE, Ill. (WSIL) -- The family of Pravin Varughese marked the nine-year anniversary of his death Saturday morning.
A group led by Lovely Varughese, Pravin's mother, walked on the edge of a wooded area where his body was found February 12, 2014.
High water levels and muddy conditions prevented the group from reaching the exact spot behind Kohl's in Carbondale where he was found.
Lovely Varughese laid a picture of her son on the ground and a set of roses on each side. Varughese then led the group in singing the Christian hymn 'They'll Know We Are Christians'.
Following a prayer and remarks Lovely Varughese kissed her hand and touched her son's portrait on the ground ending another somber anniversary. Another year without Pravin Varughese.
"It's a bittersweet feeling," Lovely Varughese said. "I want to come here but then I want February to go away but this is something I want to do to heal my soul."
The family has since turned their pain into positivity by creating a scholarship in Pravin's honor. The scholarship is awarded to a student studying criminal justice, Pravin's major before he died.
This year the family awarded Consuela Moll, of Pinckneyville, the $1000 scholarship. Molls was 11-years old when Varughese died.
"I feel honored," Moll said. "If Ican go through the SIU program I'll have a piece of him in my heart and hopefully I can take him with me to graduation."
It's the seventh year in a row that the family awarded a scholarship in Pravin Varughese's honor.