One day after learning of her mother's murder, Natalie Myrick drove to the vacant lot in northwest Atlanta where the 44-year-old grandmother's dismembered body was found.
"I needed to see the place," the oldest of Linda Myrick's three daughters told the AJC Wednesday. Her three-year-old daughter, Makaylah, noticed the strain in her mother's face.
"I didn't want her to see me cry," said Natalie Myrick, 25.
Today, at a gathering at the home where her mother grew up, Natalie had no such concerns. "I can't cry anymore," she said.
Now, Myrick's daughters are left to wonder who would kill their mother, cut off her head and hands and leave her body amid thickets of weeds and plastic soda bottles. Her funeral is on hold while police examine the body for clues.
"I just want to know how [the killer] would feel if someone did this to their mother," said Ashley Myrick, 21.
On Tuesday police combed the area where Myrick's body was found, off Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and Elm Street. They're also interviewing people from the corner where she was known to hang out, near Moreland Avenue and Memorial Drive.
"We have not been able to retrace her steps," said Atlanta Police Maj. Keith Meadows. Detectives believe Myrick was killed sometime between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
"We're going through some Crime Stopper tips," Meadows told the AJC on Wednesday. "Nothing promising yet."
Martha Myrick last talked to her daughter 12 days ago.
"She wanted some money," Myrick, 65, told the AJC. "I told her I couldn't give her any."
She described her daughter as a loner and thinks Linda Myrick likely didn't know her killer.
"She felt like no one would be able to hurt her," said daughter Natalie, adding that her mother was street smart.
But around Makaylah, her only granddaughter, Linda Myrick was all kid.
"She'd get on the floor with her, roll around and play with her," Martha Myrick said. "She was free-hearted."
Surrounded by family Wednesday, Makaylah noticed someone was missing.
"Linda," said the 3-year-old, who doesn't know her grandmother is dead. "That's my friend."
--Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this report.