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“We will find you — don’t lose hope.”
“I personally don’t know you, but please come back soon.”
“Strangers are praying — come home.”
Those pleas are just three of hundreds written on a banner for George DeLany, the previously missing Rochester Institute of Technology student whose remains were discovered Sunday night in a shallow indentation near the Wayland-Cohocton town line.
DeLany was last seen March 12, the day before his car was found in the Town of Wayland. State police in vain led massive search efforts, but it was a landowner who found DeLany in a previously unsearched area, two-to-three miles from the missing student’s vehicle.
Tuesday evening a crowd of approximately 75 gathered at the Schmitt Interfaith Center for a memorial service on the R.I.T. campus to remember their friend, classmate, and student.
“For those of you that knew George, I’m awfully sorry for your loss. For those of you that didn’t know George, I’m sorry for your loss, that you didn’t have a chance to get to know him,” said Mary-Beth Cooper, senior vice president for Student Affairs at R.I.T.
Adjunct faculty member Paloma Capanna, who was active in the “Students Finding George DeLany” organization publicizing his disappearance, read a letter from the DeLany family. The family wasn’t in attendance.
The letter summed up DeLany as a “nice person” who wanted to be known as a “tough guy,” despite it being against his nature.
“We are all a bit shy, and George inherited that trait,” said the letter. “That was tough to deal with as he grew older. Once he became involved with people, he could open up, and show the young man we loved so much.”
Much of the conversation at the memorial service centered on the community that developed during DeLany’s disappearance.
“Over the past month, our group (Students Finding George DeLany), with everyone here and in the community, has experienced something special, and that’s because of George,” said R.I.T. student James Brigden. “Not only has he built a sense of community that people work forever to try to build, he’s built it strong ... People work a lifetime to try to build a sense of community, and George did it in a very small amount of time.”
R.I.T. President Bill Destler, speaking before Brigden, also emphasized the community that had developed, and needed to continue.
“I hope all of us will dedicate ourselves to that basic idea, that we are all a family. Those of us that need help, need to know that we can help them,” said Destler. “We don’t know, we may never know, exactly what happened to George. But I think we do know that we have a responsibility to try to minimize these kinds of tragedies.
“If I’m proud of anything, I’m proud of the fact that this community kept its vigil going, both in person here on campus and on social networks ... I’m proud we didn’t give up hope until the very last.”
The discovery of DeLany’s remains would seem to bring closure, but Capanna and Brigden said they wouldn’t step back from the incident that has enveloped them in the past month. Capanna said she and the students will lobby to get Billy’s Law, legislation previously rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee, back to the Senate.
The law would create stronger sharing of information between missing persons databases and provide grants to municipalities and states to share information, according to an article from the Los Angeles Times.
Some of the details of the case — such as why DeLany was in Wayland, or the official cause of death — aren’t known. To Brigden, whatever details still unknown are irrelevant.
“We’re at the point where we have an answer for George’s family. The details we don’t know, and there aren’t many, aren’t as important to the students,” he said.
Others, though, such as sophomore D.J. Abele, are still curious as to what happened to their classmate.
“I’m torn. Part of me wants to know what happened. I don’t want more horrible news. I don’t,” he said.
Source: http://www.eveningtribune.com/features/x1798440022/Rochester-Institute-of-Technology-students-faculty-remember-DeLany
“Strangers are praying — come home.”
Those pleas are just three of hundreds written on a banner for George DeLany, the previously missing Rochester Institute of Technology student whose remains were discovered Sunday night in a shallow indentation near the Wayland-Cohocton town line.
DeLany was last seen March 12, the day before his car was found in the Town of Wayland. State police in vain led massive search efforts, but it was a landowner who found DeLany in a previously unsearched area, two-to-three miles from the missing student’s vehicle.
Tuesday evening a crowd of approximately 75 gathered at the Schmitt Interfaith Center for a memorial service on the R.I.T. campus to remember their friend, classmate, and student.
“For those of you that knew George, I’m awfully sorry for your loss. For those of you that didn’t know George, I’m sorry for your loss, that you didn’t have a chance to get to know him,” said Mary-Beth Cooper, senior vice president for Student Affairs at R.I.T.
Adjunct faculty member Paloma Capanna, who was active in the “Students Finding George DeLany” organization publicizing his disappearance, read a letter from the DeLany family. The family wasn’t in attendance.
The letter summed up DeLany as a “nice person” who wanted to be known as a “tough guy,” despite it being against his nature.
“We are all a bit shy, and George inherited that trait,” said the letter. “That was tough to deal with as he grew older. Once he became involved with people, he could open up, and show the young man we loved so much.”
Much of the conversation at the memorial service centered on the community that developed during DeLany’s disappearance.
“Over the past month, our group (Students Finding George DeLany), with everyone here and in the community, has experienced something special, and that’s because of George,” said R.I.T. student James Brigden. “Not only has he built a sense of community that people work forever to try to build, he’s built it strong ... People work a lifetime to try to build a sense of community, and George did it in a very small amount of time.”
R.I.T. President Bill Destler, speaking before Brigden, also emphasized the community that had developed, and needed to continue.
“I hope all of us will dedicate ourselves to that basic idea, that we are all a family. Those of us that need help, need to know that we can help them,” said Destler. “We don’t know, we may never know, exactly what happened to George. But I think we do know that we have a responsibility to try to minimize these kinds of tragedies.
“If I’m proud of anything, I’m proud of the fact that this community kept its vigil going, both in person here on campus and on social networks ... I’m proud we didn’t give up hope until the very last.”
The discovery of DeLany’s remains would seem to bring closure, but Capanna and Brigden said they wouldn’t step back from the incident that has enveloped them in the past month. Capanna said she and the students will lobby to get Billy’s Law, legislation previously rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee, back to the Senate.
The law would create stronger sharing of information between missing persons databases and provide grants to municipalities and states to share information, according to an article from the Los Angeles Times.
Some of the details of the case — such as why DeLany was in Wayland, or the official cause of death — aren’t known. To Brigden, whatever details still unknown are irrelevant.
“We’re at the point where we have an answer for George’s family. The details we don’t know, and there aren’t many, aren’t as important to the students,” he said.
Others, though, such as sophomore D.J. Abele, are still curious as to what happened to their classmate.
“I’m torn. Part of me wants to know what happened. I don’t want more horrible news. I don’t,” he said.
Source: http://www.eveningtribune.com/features/x1798440022/Rochester-Institute-of-Technology-students-faculty-remember-DeLany
