Didi Roland, the model whose body was dumped at a hospital in North Carolina in January, is being remembered at a memorial service in California, and the event will be held in honor of the aspiring model’s favorite color — purple.
Friends of the 25-year-old Instagram star, who died of a heart attack, have organized a memorial service to be held Wednesday at the Frank I Weiss Memorial Recreation Center in Woodland Hills, California. In addition to social media tributes, a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for the memorial has raised more than $10,000 in less than a day.
The services in California were announced on social media by a friend who said she thought it would “help heal the hearts of those who loved Didi.” Roland had gained thousands of followers through her short Instagram video clips and illustrated photos.
Her father, Marcelo Roland, told the Charlotte Observer that her decision to leave Charlotte and move to Los Angeles about a year ago was done out of fear of losing her modeling career. She had been in the City of Angels for about a year before her death.
Roland and a group of friends visited the nightclub Cheetah for two nights of partying. One friend said Roland was reluctant to leave, though she later admitted she had stayed a lot longer than she should have.
By the time morning dawned, Roland was dead. She and her friends were found carrying trash bags filled with Roland’s belongings.
Investigators interviewed dozens of people who were in the club, and many described her final moments. From what was in the bags, investigators had determined she had been dead for up to 24 hours, according to the Observer.
Carolina police arrested three people. One, an ex-boyfriend, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. Another man was charged with obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. The third man was arrested in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday on an unrelated charge.
Last month, the North Carolina hospital where Roland was found said in a news release that it had been unaware Roland had left the area.
A memorial service was previously held in Charlotte for Roland, who was found dead in a trash bag in January.