A memorial service was conducted Sunday for a 17-year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, allegedly by a parolee who tried to get the girl to withdraw money from an ATM.
The invitation-only service for Lily Belle Burk was at the Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood. Burk's body was found in her car in the early morning hours of July 25 near Alameda and Fourth streets.
"Lily reminded me of the root meaning of the word angel, which is a messenger. She had so many messages for me I can't count them but the main one was love," her father, Greg Burke, said.
The attendees laughed when he added, "She could see right into our souls without even thinking about it ... and she loved us all anyway."
Burk, a student at North Hollywood's Oakwood School, left her home in Los Feliz about 2 p.m. July 24 to pick up some papers for her mother, a law professor at Southwestern University School of Law in the Westlake area. Police believe she was abducted about an hour later by 50-year-old Charlie Samuel, who allegedly took her to an ATM and tried to get her to withdraw money, but she was unable to do so because her credit card could not be used as a debit card.
The girl made several phone calls to her parents and had made arrangements to meet her father to get some money, but she never showed up.
According to the coroner's office, Burk suffered a cut to her neck and other "traumatic injuries."
"I watched you move forward. I get the feeling that it's possible for me to move forward now as well," Deb Drooz, the girl's mother, said Sunday. "Not this second, mind you, not this second at all, but with time and with Greg's love and with your love."
Samuel was charged July 28 with murder, kidnapping and robbery in the slaying. He was arrested the night of Burk's disappearance for unrelated offenses, but by Sunday evening, he had been linked by fingerprints and other evidence to the girl's killing, investigators said.
Samuel was ordered held without bail. His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 20.
