South Bay

Slain Boys Remembered in Rededication Ceremony in Imperial Beach

"You will feel the spirit of the boys here, enjoying, laughing as the breeze goes across your face," said Melina Sellers Phillips.

The memory of two murdered South Bay boys is being kept alive with a rededication ceremony in Imperial Beach.

The rededication ceremony honoring Charlie Keever and Johnathan Sellers took place Saturday, at the San Diego South Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Keever and Sellers disappeared while on a bike ride along the Otay River in 1993. Their bodies were later found days later in a riverbed in the South Bay neighborhood of Palm City.

A brand-new plaque with the boy’s pictures was unveiled during the ceremony. The original plaque showed signs of wear and tear so, the county and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service had one made.

The plaque is a part of the Sellers-Keever Outdoor Educational Activity Center. The center opened in 2012 as a place for children to come and learn about nature.

This location was chosen because the boys used to ride their bikes in the area.

Maria Keever and Melina Sellers Philips, the boy’s moms told the crowd the location is perfect because it's peaceful.

“I hope that each of you will try to come back again when there's nothing going on like this and just share this. Take the time to look out and take in the peace of the beautiful location, and you will feel the spirit of the boys here, enjoying, laughing as the breeze goes across your face," said Sellers Phillips.

Investigators found Scott Erskine to be the killer, eight years after the boys death. Officials said they had been beaten, raped and murdered. 

Erskine is currently on death row at San Quentin.

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