INDIANAPOLIS -- Various city leaders gathered at Willard Park Friday to dedicate the Sylvia Likens Memorial.

Sylvia Likens was murdered in 1965 by her caretaker after being beaten, tortured and starved.

Likens parents put her in the care of strangers, where she was beaten, burned with cigarettes and tattooed in an eastside home's basement. She was also locked in a closet and for three months, her cries went unheard until her death.

Many police officers remember the story as one of the cruelest crimes in Indianapolis and maybe even the country.

A 6-foot granite plaque commemorating the crime was placed in the park to remember victimized children.

Likens older sister, Diana Knusen attended the memorial unveiling.

"It might help some child somewhere, you know? I'm so happy that it took place in the park, where children will be playing," Knusen said.

She said that this didn't bring closure.

"Even though Oct. 26 will be 36 years (since her death), it's never that long in your mind and in your heart, when you lose someone."

An officer who grew up with Likens and knew her during her childhood was behind the effort to commemorate her.

An Indianapolis-born film director and actor, Ivan Rogers grew up in Indianapolis at the time of Likens death and donated money to buy the monument.

The monument is just one of the many improvements that Willard Park is receiving. A walkway around the monument is being built so that people can reflect on the incident.

The woman convicted of Likens' murder, Gertrude Baniszewski, was released on parole in 1985.