Friends Mourn Amanda Bach: 'She Was A Sweetheart'
UPDATED: 9/23/2011 11:40 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In Northwest Indiana, family and friends said their final farewells to Amanda Bach at her funeral this morning.
Bach, 19, was found shot to death last weekend about 300 yards for her ex-boyfriend's home. That man, Dustin McCowan, 18, has been charged with her murder.
Bach's friends and family gathered at Nativity of Our Savior Catholic Church in Portage on Friday--full of fond memories of her short life.
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"She was a really amazing person," said one friend. "She was such a sweetheart. It's hard to have somebody like that to be gone."
Police returned to the murder scene on Thursday but failed to turn up any new evidence. The murder weapon has not been found.
McCowan, who was friends with Bach, lives on County Road 625W in Union Township, a short distance from where her body was discovered Saturday afternoon.
Police confiscated the marked Crown Point police car of Joseph Elliott McCowan, the father of Dustin McCowan. Authorities said Joseph E. McCowan was not cooperative on Saturday when the car was taken to process it for evidence.
According to the charging document released Tuesday, an unidentified girl told police she was with Dustin McCowan between 4 and 7 a.m. Friday. LaFlower cited the charging document saying McCowan's father took his son for a short ride in his squad car after he came home from work.
Police also searched the McCowan house. McCowan's service weapon has been ruled out as the murder weapon. LaFlower said Joseph E. McCowan owns other guns, which were being checked by police.
A neighbor told police she heard voices the night Bach was killed between 1 and 2 a.m. A male voice said, "Amanda, come on, get up, Amanda, get up." The neighbor heard a female voice saying, "I can't believe this is happening," according to the charging affidavit.
Bach, a 2011 Portage High School graduate, left her Portage home about 10 p.m. Thursday and McCowan told police she was at his house from 11 p.m. Thursday to 1:30 a.m. Friday. He said they played video games and watched a movie. He denied hearing the voices the neighbor reported.
