The concrete angel statue has suddenly disappeared from Cherry Grove. Here’s what we know.
Five things to know about Horry County’s “Angel of Hope” statute
She survived at least three hurricanes
Nobody seems to know exactly when the concrete marker was placed atop a Cherry Grove Point sand dune, but locals say she made it through at least three hurricanes unscathed — most recently Isaias in 2020.
That storm destroyed more than 430 structures and caused $2.4 million damages in North Myrtle Beach near where the statue is situated.
She’s located at The Point in Cherry Grove
The angel sat upon a dune at the end of N. Ocean Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach, near the Heritage Shores Nature Preserve. In 2020, Isaias took out a portion of the Cherry Grove pier
Futch Beach, a popular 1.9-mile route, runs along N. Ocean Boulevard and takes people past the statue’s resting place.
She disappeared sometime over the weekend
Amanda Barrett and her boyfriend Devin Slockbower arrived at her grandmother’s Inland Point villa condominium late on Aug. 18. The couple took a short walk to the statue and ended up taking the last photos of it before Saturday, when they discovered it was gone.
Barrett was planning to leave tributes to her mother and grandmother at its base.
Its fate remains unknown
North Myrtle Beach spokesman Donald Graham said the area where the statue is installed falls outside the city’s jurisdiction, and Horry County Police spokeswoman Mikayla Moscov could not immediately be reached for comment.
A Sun News photographer who visited the site Monday morning said track marks weren’t visible, and pictures taken by Barrett reveal a concrete base that the statue is built into.
This story was originally published August 22, 2022 at 12:00 AM.