Originally Posted by
The Denver Post
FRIENDS, STRANGERS BID FAREWELL TO ALIE
The Denver Post
May 28, 1993
Author:
Tracy Seipel; Denver Post Staff WriterDENVER POST
Page: 1B
Estimated printed pages: 3
Article Text:
LITTLETON - Hundreds of mourners - many of them complete
strangers - bade a tearful farewell yesterday to little Aleszandra
Ariel Berrelez, even as police quietly continued their hunt for her killer.
Five-year-old Alie was kidnapped from her home last week as she
played outside with her baby brother. On Saturday, bloodhounds led
searchers to Deer Creek Canyon, where her body was found in a duffel bag.
Yesterday, during the funeral at Drinkwine Mortuary and later at her
grave site near the "Babyland" section of Chapel Hill Cemetery, Englewood
detectives videotaped those in attendance and their license plates, on
the off chance the girl's killer was present.
Meanwhile, tears and hugging marked the mournful occasion as 350
people crowded into the chapel. Another 100 spilled out of the chapel
foyer to the outside. Several - mostly mothers with children - pressed
their faces against the glass partition at the front of the chapel,
straining to hear the poems, songs and prayers recited for Alie.
The funeral featured a compendium of much that Alie loved.
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was sung by a family friend. A prayer, "Now I Lay
Me Down to Sleep," was inscribed in 500 memorial folders, all of which
were given away.
The hope that her killer will be caught was on the minds of many.
"We want to solemnly pray that the one who committed the heinous
crime against her and against you might be speedily brought to justice and
suffer your righteous judgment," said the Rev. Don Cavin. "We know that
justice will be done because nothing is hidden from you."
Alie's grandfather, Richard Berrelez Sr., recalled some of his
fondest memories of Alie during the eulogy.
"I remember it was a little more than five years ago when a baby
girl came into my life," he began. "She grew up without a father who would
love her," he said, recalling once telling her, "Poor Ales, you don't
have a dad that loves you."
"`But Grandpoppy, you're my dad, and you love me,"' he quoted her as
responding. "So we set the stage and played like father and daughter,"
he said.
Berrelez remembered the times the twosome sang favorite songs
together, such as Madonna's "Material Girl," or danced to Little Richard's
"Tutti Frutti."
"Everyone knew we weren't the best duet," he admitted. But "with
practice, we would have made a good duet."
Only a week before she disappeared, Alie heard that her grandparents
were planning a short vacation, and told her grandmother, "I'm going on
a vacation to Lakeside Park," he said.
"But I had no idea she'd be gone on a vacation so long," said
Berrelez, sobbing.
Many others in the audience also cried, even though they did not
know Alie or her family. Nevertheless, they hoped their presence brought
support to the family.
"I understand the way she feels, because I know how I'd feel if it
happened to my daughter. I'd want support," said Terri Vasquez, 23, who
was there with her 4-year-old daughter, Chantelle.
"I felt sorry for the little girl's family," said Michelle Duran,
26, who attended the funeral with her three sons and mother-in-law. She
said the tragedy has taught her two oldest that "this can happen to
them if they talk to strangers or wander off."
Alie's white velvet, child-sized casket was taken by limousine to
the entrance of Chapel Hill Cemetery, where it was transferred to a
horse-drawn carriage, and then to the grave site.
Someone placed a doll next to a white-and-pink rose bouquet on top
of the casket. Baskets of assorted lilies, roses, daisies and other
spring flowers decorated the area. In one bouquet was a pink ribbon
inscribed "Mommie Loves You."
Later, Alie's grandfather thanked the public for its support and
asked for help in forming an children's advocacy group to tighten laws
against those who harm children.
Said Berrelez: "We have to unite together and go after a plan so we
won't have to deal with this anymore."
Copyright 1993 The Denver Post Corp.
Record Number: DNVR132726
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