Memorial Held At University Of Vermont

About 900 people, solemn and shaken, packed a brick chapel Sunday to lay flowers and sing songs in remembrance of 21-year-old Michelle Gardner-Quinn.

The University of Vermont student was found dead Friday by hikers near a popular swimming hole in the Vermont woods - six days after being reported missing.

Police haven't yet said what the cause of death was or what they think happened; an autopsy was done on Saturday but so far none of the findings have been made public.

At the memorial service Sunday night, touches of antiquity mixed with the very modern in the old New England chapel at the University as those who came to remember Michelle Gardner-Quinn – even the local police officers – stood and sang "Amazing Grace." Some stood and shared their memories; others moved through a series of yoga poses in memory of their friend – a yoga enthusiast - as a faculty adviser read from her journal.

"Through my travels, I have learned tremendously, yet I feel that now is the time to settle down and explore internally. In this stage of life, I want to be able to practice what I preach, which includes internal connection to the natural world as well as community involvement," Gardner-Quinn had written.

The journal was given to Gardner-Quinn's father, John-Charles Quinn, as her family left the chapel after the service.

Michelle Gardner-Quinn's smile beamed down from two easel-mounted photographs as a minister and four of the student's friends eulogized the 21-year-old senior from Arlington, Va., who was found dead Friday in a ravine near Burlington.

"Michelle knew herself so well. She knew what she wanted to do and was focused on making a positive difference in the world," said one friend. "She motivated all of us to look within ourselves and follow the example that she set."

Police say Gardner-Quinn was last seen Oct. 7 walking up Main Street in Burlington with Brian L. Rooney, 36, after borrowing his cell phone in a bid to reunite with friends she had been out with. Authorities say Rooney, who was seen walking alongside her in surveillance camera footage shot by a jewelry store camera at 2:34 a.m., was apparently the last person to see her alive.

Rooney is awaiting arraignment in state District Court in the northern Vermont town of St. Johnsbury on unrelated charges of sexual assault on a minor. He is also charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor in neighboring Essex County, more than 80 miles east of the Burlington campus.

Police say he is a suspect in Gardner-Quinn's disappearance, but he hasn't been charged.

Sunday, Gardner-Quinn's parents, sister and brother sat in the front row of the University of Vermont chapel as Rev. Sue Marie Baskette, a campus minister, spoke of the young woman's love of nature.

"We are angry and wanting to shout and scream at the top of our lungs. Why? Why, God, why?" said Baskette. "Yet there is no answer, only the stinging reminder of our frail existence here on earth."

Friends, fighting back tears, said that Gardner-Quinn - who had just transferred to the university this fall - taught them to laugh harder, eat healthier and appreciate dancing to the music of the Latin belly-dancing pop star Shakira.

"Her crazy personality and positive energy always made our dorm such a happy place," one friend said.