As she drove into Streator, Michelle Mesarchik noticed a sign lauding the city's Governor's Hometown Award won in 1998.

Mesarchik, whose 7-year-old son Dalton was found murdered in the Vermilion River south of Streator five years ago today, thinks Streator isn't deserving of any award so long as the investigation into her son's death remains unsolved and the community does little to increase child safety awareness.

"Dalton's murder has cast a shadow over Streator as a place unsafe and unworthy of any award," Mesarchik said Wednesday at a vigil for Dalton in front of Streator City Hall.

Every year family and friends of Dalton stage vigils in memory of the motorcycle-loving boy affectionately called "Little Dude," and plan to continue doing so until his murderer is brought to justice.

"We'll be back every year until then," Mesarchik said. "We're not giving up. We're not shutting up. We're not going away."

Those comments elicited a hearty round of applause from the 75 or so people attending. The start of the candlelight vigil coincided with the arrival of dusk, with the night sky blanketing the event by hour's end.

The gradual descent into darkness seemed fitting for an event marking the anniversary of a heinous murder that many Streatorites still talk about regularly. Dalton was abducted March 26, 2003, from in front of his Streator home, reportedly while waiting to be transported to a Bible study class. His body was found near the Vermilion Boat Club the next day as thousands of volunteers combed the city, searching for the boy. Police say he was bludgeoned to death with a small sledgehammer.

Capt. Jill Rizzs, Illinois State Police Zone 5 Investigation Commander, said finding Dalton's killer remains an ISP priority and is "a tremendous responsibility."

The Mesarchik investigation is not a cold case, as detectives continue to follow occasional leads and conduct related interviews, Rizzs said.

Family friend Jenni Richards said 1,825 days after Dalton's murder, a "huge, gaping wound" remains incurable as long as the boy's killer is at large.

Referring to the killer as a "monster," Richards admitted to praying daily for wrath and vengeance.

"I pray that Dalton's face haunts the monster every second of every minute of every hour of every day, much like it does us," Richards said. "Until then, I pray that the torment of Dalton's cry for justice rings in its head relentlessly, much like it does for us."

A significant part of the vigil focused not only on Dalton, but also on other murdered children as well. Mesarchik and Richards alternated reading the names of 60 murdered children as blue balloons were released one at a time in memory of them. Individual cardboard signs bearing each child's name, age, year and place of death were lined along the steps of Streator City Hall between three columns of white candles.

That part of the vigil culminated with the reading of a 61st name, Dalton Mesarchik, at which time seven balloons were released in memory of the 7-year-old boy.

"Forever 7," Mesarchik said as she and Richards both looked to the sky.

Among the names read were those of Dwight siblings Ashley, 5, and Joshua Gleeson, 3, who were killed by their father, Patrick Gleeson, four months before Dalton was murdered. Their mother, Edna "Sue" Smith, attended the vigil and stood unannounced among the crowd.

After the vigil ended, Smith told The Times she came to Streator to show support for what Mesarchik is doing to help people remember her son and realize the importance of increasing child safety.

"I give her a lot of respect for keeping it alive, so people remember there's still a lot of bad out there that can harm our children," Smith said.

"You've got to keep it alive somehow," she said. "In my case, it was solved and the man who did it is in prison. To everyone else, it's done and over. But not for me. It's something I'm living with every day, and it's the same for her. It's not easy."

The vigil closed with a performance of the 3 Doors Down song, "When I'm Gone," sung by three of Dalton's schoolmates, Lauren Finkelstein, Kaitlin Gonzalez and Billy Darrow. They were accompanied by Lauren's father, Dr. Gary Finkelstein, on guitar.

Dr. Finkelstein said he felt the performance was "a nice way to show support" in light of the effect Dalton's death had on the community.

"We dealt with Dalton's death on many levels, having a child the same age as him, and my daughter was friends with him," Finkelstein said of his family.

A popular rock tune when Dalton died, "When I'm Gone" includes the following refrain:

"So hold me when I'm here / Right me when I'm wrong / Hold me when I'm scared / And love me when I'm gone."

A recorded version of the song was played during Dalton's funeral.