DOTHAN, Ala. (WDNews) — One cross may hold the face of someone’s child. Another, someone’s mother, father, brother, sister or best friend.
There are 482 of them standing outside Wiregrass Angel House in Dothan.
For some driving by, they are crosses along the side of the road. For the families who recognize a photograph, they are someone they would give anything to have back.
Every cross represents a life taken by homicide. Behind every photograph is a person who was loved, a family that still remembers and an empty place that can never quite be filled.
The display puts faces to a number that can otherwise be difficult to comprehend.
Four hundred and eighty-two people.
They had names. They had families. They had birthdays, favorite foods, inside jokes and people who expected them to be there tomorrow.
Now, their faces stand together in a memorial meant to make sure they are remembered for more than the way their lives ended.
The memorial has grown over the years.
In 2021, Wiregrass Angel House displayed 261 crosses. There were 371 in 2023, 408 in 2024 and 459 in 2025.
This year, there are 482.
That means 23 more lives are represented in the display than just one year ago.
For the families left behind, grief does not disappear when the police investigation ends, the courtroom empties or public attention moves on. Birthdays, holidays and ordinary days continue without the person they lost.
That is where Wiregrass Angel House continues its work.
The organization supports victims of violent crime and families who have lost loved ones to homicide. Services include crisis intervention, counseling, assistance with funeral arrangements and victim compensation, crime scene cleanup and help navigating the criminal justice system.
Those services are provided free of charge.
Each September, the crosses are placed outside Angel House in connection with the National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims.
Together, the hundreds of crosses create a powerful picture of the toll violence has taken on families across the Wiregrass.
But individually, each cross tells a different story.
Behind each one is a name. A face. A family. Memories that continue long after a life was taken.
Wiregrass Angel House will gather with families, friends and members of the community Friday, Sept. 25, for its National Day of Remembrance.
The program begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Angel House Memorial Garden, 105 N. Bell St. in Dothan. The community is invited to attend and remember the lives behind every cross.
For the families who see the face of someone they love among the rows, the crosses make sure those lives are not reduced to how they ended.
482 crosses. 482 lives. 482 people remembered.
