THE father of a British tourist gunned down in a botched robbery attempt 10 years ago has made an emotional journey.
Terry Colley, of Brighouse, flew to the United States and placed flowers at a Florida highway rest stop - the place where his son, Gary, died.
Mr Colley, 67, tapped his heart several times and inhaled a couple of deep breaths to keep his composure as he placed a bouquet of mixed flowers with yellow roses on a large stone memorial at the rest area on Interstate 10, 35 miles east of Tallahassee.
He placed another under a marker where a tree was planted in memory of his son.
"I'm not a believer religiously, but I believe there is something there," said Mr Colley, who travelled to Florida from Brighouse to mark the 10-year anniversary of the shooting.
"Where he died is where he left his body, and I believe that's here."
Gary Colley was 34 when he was shot and killed as he and fiancée, Margaret Ann Jagger, rested in their rental car in the pre-dawn hours of September 14, 1993.
They were the apparent victims of a random hold-up attempt.
"It was one of these things," Mr Colley said today. "Gary was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it hadn't been Gary and Margaret it would've been somebody else."
Ms Jagger was wounded in the shooting, but later testified at trials of the attackers.
The teenagers who attacked the sleeping couple ranged in age from 13 to 17. Aundra Akins, now 24, and John Crumity, 26, are serving life.
Deron Spear, now 27, was sentenced to eight years.
Cedric Green, now 23, pleaded no contest and testified against the others.
Mr Colley said: "I don't know about forgiveness. How can you forgive when they took my son away"
The brown stone marker, shipped from Yorkshire, was from Ms Jagger and inscribed: "Have I told you lately that I love you?"
Meanwhile, Ms Jagger has begun to move on with her life.
"She moved out of the house, which is a good thing," said Mr Colley. "She's going into a new house. She's got a new relationship, a nice chap. She's moving forward slowly."
