Dead Girl Remembered at Mass

Tuesday night for a memorial Mass at St. Augustine’s chapel, not far from her home.

“The great urge for all of us is to ask the question ‘Why?’ There is no sense, no understanding and no consolation,” Father John Sanders told the packed chapel.

After the service, Amanda’s mother, Marlene Przybylak, delivered a short statement thanking the community for its help.

“Everyone’s been so wonderful to help us look for Amanda, and I can’t thank everyone enough. There’s a lot of wonderful people out there,” Przybylak said.

But other relatives expressed anger and fear.

“Whoever took this little girl is still out there and is in this neighborhood, and it will happen again,” said Frank Gaeke, Amanda’s uncle.

Others attending the Mass shared the sense that the killer lurks somewhere in North Park.

“We’re all really scared,” said Mary Zullo, who lived six blocks from Amanda and runs a day-care center in her home for 12 children.

“Not only me, but so are my day care parents. One is afraid that the guy who did this to Amanda saw her walk home alone from school, and he might be watching out for other girls, too.”