VELVA, N.D. (KMOT) – We’ve been reporting a lot on the case of Anita Knutson in the past months and years. Amid all the police reports and court hearings, there is the human element.
A family lost a daughter and a sister, and six years later, they lost their son and brother in Daniel Knutson.
A group of former classmates of both Anita and Daniel are doing their part to keep their memories alive.
Joe Skurzewski headed to the home of the Aggies to learn how.
As the bell rings in the halls of Velva Public School and students find their way to their next class, these Aggies are taking a walk down memory lane. Amber Nix and Erin Haustveit are members of the Velva Class of 2006. On this day, they found themselves going through the school’s years of graduates. They come across their class, and one portrait in particular stands out, that of Anita Knutson.
For Nix and Haustveit, Anita was more than a classmate. This Californian turned North Dakotan would quickly become a dear friend.
“Somebody said some new girl from California moved to Butte, and we all piled into my two-door, five-speed stick shift and drove down to Butte and literally knocked on her door and introduced ourselves, and that’s when I met Anita,” said Haustveit.
We interviewed Haustveit and Nix back in 2007 when they were mourning Anita’s death. Today, they’re looking to celebrate her life.
Joe Skurzewski: “What kind of person was Anita?”
Amber Nix: “Amazing. I know it sounds cliche, but it really is the truth. She was the most happy, bubbly human that I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet.”
As many of our viewers know by now, Anita was killed in the summer of 2007 after finishing her first year of college.
Tragedy would strike the Knutson family again when Anita’s brother Daniel died by suicide in 2013. Daniel is seen in the display cases at Velva Public School alongside his teammates on the Aggies football state championship teams.
Nix, Haustveit and others have long wanted to find a way to carry on the legacy of both Anita and Daniel. Over the past few weeks, they contacted the Velva Dollars for Scholars program and worked with them to launch the Anita and Daniel Knutson Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The idea is that, each year starting in 2026, a scholarship will be awarded to a Velva grad getting ready to venture into the world, just as Anita and Daniel were years ago.
“We’ve got a two-fold thing that’s happening. One, I think we’re all trying to figure out what to do with all that grief and to turn it into something positive. And two, we do want that memory to be kept alive, and we do want people to understand how important our time was here, and Anita’s time was here, and that’s really valuable to us,” said Haustveit.
They said they hope to award the scholarship to someone pursuing elementary education, which was what Anita wanted to do with her life. If the graduating class does not have someone pursuing that career, they will likely focus on character and volunteerism.
If you wish to donate to the scholarship, you can do so in the flyer below.
Related Content: Continuing Coverage of Anita Knutson Cold Case
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