For people in Wilbraham who knew Lord, news of her death in Boston defied all sense and reason.
WILBRAHAM – Dozens of family, friends and former classmates of Amy Lord, the 24-year-old Wilbraham woman murdered Tuesday in Boston, gathered on the lawn at Gazebo Park for a candlelight vigil to celebrate her life and to mourn her loss.
Lord, a 2007 graduate of Minnechaug Regional High School and one of the captains of the cheerleading squad her senior year, was remembered as a positive, giving person who loved life. For her to be stabbed to death in Boston following what police believe was a kidnapping and robbery defies all sense and reason, participants said.
Richard Talmadge said when he heard the news Wednesday morning it was absolutely incomprehensible that something so horrible could happen to someone so wonderful.
“It’s pretty hard to wrap my head around it,” he said.
He said he knew Lord and her family for years. She and his daughters were on the same sports teams all through school and the cheering squad. “We spent a lot of time on the sidelines (with her family) going way back.”
Talmadge’s wife, Paula recalled their children and Lord carpooling to youth soccer games. “We knew her all through school. She was an ideal student.”
Lord, who graduated from Bentley University in 2011 with a degree in marketing, was working in Boston as a digital media analyst with Genuine Interactive.
Her body was found just before 4 p.m. Tuesday at Stony Brook Reservation in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood, roughly five hours after she was reported as missing to police after she failed to show up for an appointment.
Police believe she was forced into her car by an unknown assailant sometime before 6 a.m. and driven to as many as five ATMs and forced to make withdrawals.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said during a Wednesday press conference, “We believe Amy Lord was abducted in South Boston early yesterday morning and taken to Stony Brook where she was fatally stabbed.”Police have a suspect in custody in connection with an assault on another woman but as yet he has not been charged in connection with the Lord case, which remains under investigation.
Conley told member of the media at an afternoon press conference in Boston, “at this hour, no one has been charged.”
To aid in the investigation, police released surveillance footage of Lord at one of the five banks as a way to reach out to potential witnesses who may have seen her and can provide information. Her face has been obscured by police.
The vigil in Wilbraham was scheduled to at 8:30 p.m. at Gazebo Park, but people started assembling well in advance. Before organizers could even set up tables with candles and photographs of Lord, more than 100 people were gathered. Many of them were young adults, friends and former classmates.
While members of the press from throughout the state stood on the periphery, friends and family of Lord hugged and consoled each other on the lawn of the park.
Deacon James Ziemba of St. Cecelia’s Church in Wilbraham asked those who knew Amy to put aside their fears, their anger and hate over her death and instead to direct their love to her family and to preserving her memory. “Pray for the repose of the soul of Amy,” he said.
People who knew her were invited to come up and share their remembrances of her.
A group of young women who were classmates pledged to serve as surrogate older sisters for Amy’s two younger sisters.
One woman described Amy as having an indefatigable soul and a part of that soul lives inside everyone who ever knew her. "Amy was the strongest part of our soul, and we will always more sure she stays that way,” she said.
One young man said “Amy touched so many lives. All we can do is be like Amy and touch other people."
A woman who said she was Amy’s dance instructor since childhood said Amy was always happy, always smiling, and she loved the world and every thing in it. “All we can do is to remember Amy the way she lived her life,” she said.
After each person spoke of their personal recollections, the sound of sobbing could be heard among people in the crowd.
The crowd recited the “Our Father” and “Hail Mary,” and then sang “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”
The vigil concluded with everyone holding their candles skyward as a gesture toward heaven “so Amy can see it.”