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Nikki Tundel
St. Paul, Minn.

Makeshift memorials

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Memorial 1
This memorial, located at the intersection of 35th Street and 18th Avenue South in Minneapolis, is for Ethan Johnson. The 37-year-old University of Minnesota research associate was killed in a hit-and-run car crash on September 20, 2010.
MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel

Roadside memorials are often seen along the country's highways, typically noting the location where someone died along that road. More recently, homemade memorials have made their way off the streets and into residential neighborhoods. Flowers and balloons as well as photos and handwritten notes can be spotted on city fences or at the bases of trees. Friends and family members create such memorials to mark the last place their loved one was alive. Reporter Nikki Tundel documented some of the makeshift memorials around the Twin Cities.

Gallery
10 of 10
Memorial 10
Christopher de Ronde was shot and killed near this tree at the intersection of 30th Street and Colfax Avenue North in Minneapolis. Area residents who didn't know Chris say they light the candles at this homemade memorial when they go out. "The news just keeps saying he was the 34th person shot this year in Minneapolis," says Gilda Maxwell, a friend of the deceased 21-year-old. "He's more than that. He was a great person. He was a dad. A great dad."
MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel
1 of 10
Memorial 1
This memorial, located at the intersection of 35th Street and 18th Avenue South in Minneapolis, is for Ethan Johnson. The 37-year-old University of Minnesota research associate was killed in a hit-and-run car crash on September 20, 2010.
MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel
2 of 10
Memorial 2
Ethan Johnson was less than two blocks from home when a driver ran a stop sign at 60 mph and broadsided his car. The memorial to Johnson is built on rubble left by the fatal crash.
MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel