About 200 people have gathered at Gazebo Park for a candlelight vigil to remember Amy Lord, a former Wilbraham resident and Minnechaug Regional High School graduate who was kidnapped and fatally stabbed early Tuesday in Boston.
UPDATE, 9:06 p.m.: The vigil has concluded.
UPDATE, 9:02 p.m.: Everyone held their candles skyward "so Amy can see it."
UPDATE, 8:57 p.m.: Amy Lord's dance teacher: "Remember Amy the way she lived her life. She loved everyone and every thing."
UPDATE, 8:51 p.m. After the crowd, now in the hundreds, recited prayers and sang "Amazing Grace," a young man said, "Amy touched so many lives. All we can do is be like Amy and touch other people."
Rev. Ziemba then led the gathering in singing "Let There Be Peace on Earth."
It is an extremely emotional gathering, with many people openly sobbing.
UPDATE, 8:44 p.m.: A classmate said, "Amy was the strongest part of our soul, and we will always more sure she stays that way."
UPDATE, 8:36 p.m.: The Rev. Jim Ziemba, leading the service, asked the assemblage to "pray for the family and for the repose of Amy's soul."
WILBRAHAM — About 200 people have gathered at Gazebo Park for a candlelight vigil to remember Amy Lord, a former Wilbraham resident and Minnechaug Regional High School graduate who was kidnapped and fatally stabbed early Tuesday in Boston.
Amy Lord, seen in 2006 The vigil was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. The scene was somber as the crowd of mostly young adults, many in tears, came together to honor the memory of Lord, a 2007 Minnechaug Regional High School graduate and 2011 Bentley University graduate.
Organizers of the vigil set up tables with candles for participants to hold. Some of the Japanese paper bag-style candles were lined up around the gazebo.
Lord's friends were invited to wear white ribbons made available at the gazebo.
Lord, 24, was found murdered Tuesday at Stony Brook Reservation in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Police believe the former Wilbraham resident, a 2007 graduate of Minnechaug Regional High School and 2011 graduate of Bentley University, was abducted in her own car sometime before 6 a.m. and forced to withdraw money from five separate ATM machines.
This is a developing story; an updated article will be posted later tonight