BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) – Solemn and shaken, about 900 people packed into a brick chapel Sunday to remember a University of Vermont student in a memorial service with flowers, songs and some of her own words.

The smiling face of Michelle Gardner-Quinn beamed down from two easel-mounted photographs on stage as a minister eulogized her and four friends fought back tears to deliver recollections of the 21-year-old senior, who disappeared Oct. 7 and was found dead Friday in a ravine east of Burlington.

With her parents, sister and brother sitting in the front row, campus minister Rev. Sue Marie Baskette spoke of the nature-loving spirit of Gardner-Quinn.

“We are angry and wanting to shout and scream at the top of our lungs. Why? Why, God, why? Yet there is no answer, only the stinging reminder of our frail existence here on earth,” said Baskette.

The 55-minute service included readings from Gardner-Quinn’s journal and an essay she wrote for an environmental studies class and turned in two days before her disappearance.

“Through my travels, I have learned tremendously, yet I feel that now is the time to settle down and explore internally. In this stage of life, I want to be able to practice what I preach, which includes internal connection to the natureal world as well as community involvement,” Gardner-Quinn wrote.

Gardner-Quinn, who had just transferred into the University this fall, was remembered by friends as a yoga lover who taught her friends to laugh harder, eat healthier and dance to Shakira’s music.

“Her crazy personality and positive energy always made our dorm such a happy place,” said one.

Two of Gardner-Quinn’s student yoga instructors did yoga exercises on stage as their faculty adviser read from her journal, which one gave to the woman’s father as the family made their way out of the chapel when it was over.

The father, John-Charles Quinn, shared a long hug with the instructor, Keri Johnson, after she handed it to him.

The congregation consisted mainly of University of Vermont students, but also included Gov. James Douglas, U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders and Burlington Police Chief Thomas Tremblay.

The suspect in her death, Brian L. Rooney, 36, will be arraigned in Vermont District Court in St. Johnsbury on charges of sexual assault on a minor. He is also charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor in neighboring Essex County, more than 80 miles east of the University of Vermont’s campus in Burlington.

The Essex County charge dates to an incident in 1998. Both charges were brought as a result of information that came to light as police investigated him in connection with the disappearance of Michelle Gardner-Quinn.

Gardner-Quinn was last seen Oct. 7 walking up Main Street in Burlington with Rooney after borrowing his cell phone in a bid to reunite with friends she had been out with. Rooney, who was seen walking alongside her in surveillance camera footage shot by a jewelry store camera at 2:34 a.m., was apparently the last person to see her alive, according to police.

But he hasn’t been charged in her disappearance.

Hikers found her body in a rocky ravine Friday. An autopsy was performed Saturday but police have yet to give a cause of death or say when Gardner-Quinn died. A memorial service was planned Sunday night at the university.

Rooney, a construction worker and father of three, has been jailed without bail at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility since his arrest Friday.

Police say he is a suspect in Gardner-Quinn’s disappearance, and have appealed for the public’s help in gathering information about Rooney and his activities after he was seen with Gardner-Quinn.

“Our investigation continues to focus on Brian Rooney’s actions and whereabouts during the time period of Saturday, Oct. 7, at 2:30 a.m. to midmorning Monday, Oct. 9,” said police Lt. Kathleen Stubbing on Saturday. “We are also interested in information regarding the red Jeep Grand Cherokee” he is believed to have been driving.

“We continue to receive tips from the public and we strongly urge anyone with relevant information about Brian Rooney to please call us,” said Stubbing, who said it would be at least a week before charges could be brought.

There are several theories about what happened to Gardner-Quinn that police are looking into, she said, but she would not elaborate.

Police Chief Thomas Tremblay attributed the pace of the investigation to the “mountain” of evidence to be analyzed.

“In my 24 years here, we’ve searched more of the city of Burlington than at any other time,” he said Saturday. “We’ve had more than 100 volunteers, we’ve collected a ton of things. All of that has to be analyzed, along with the forensic evidence. It takes time.”

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On the Net:

Burlington Police Department: www.bpdvt.org