'Our beautiful girl': Beloved Dunlap teen soccer player loses battle to cancer

PEORIA — Tessa Sutton, the beloved Dunlap High School soccer player whose battle with cancer drew support from teams all over central Illinois and beyond, died on Friday afternoon.

"At 3:09 p.m. our beautiful girl passed peacefully surrounded by her family," wrote her parents, Rich and Michelle Sutton, on their Team Tessa Facebook page. "She is no longer in pain. This is how I choose to picture her now. Free from the pain of this world & just blissfully happy, hopefully playing soccer on a beach somewhere. It was our privilege to be your parents for 17 years. Love you sis."

Services:Funeral set for Dunlap soccer player Tessa Sutton

Sutton was diagnosed with a rare malignant chest wall tumor at age 15. Her teammates rallied around her. Opposing teams did fundraisers and some — like a team from Streator, which had never met her — wrote her name on their shoes.