Canastota, N.Y. — Hundreds of people lined a block of North Main Street Sunday night to remember a young woman found dead hours earlier.
They lit candles, hugged and collected donations to help Elizabeth “Lizzie” Garrow’s family as they prepare to bury the 19-year-old mother.
Melissa Bush, 25, and Emily Lloyd, 27, said they’ve barely slept or eaten since they learned their sister was missing Wednesday.
After four days of searching, police told the family Sunday morning they had found Garrow’s body, her sisters said.
The family said authorities told them Lizzie was badly beaten.
The community quickly came together to show their support. Someone made family members T-shirts that they wore at the vigil. The shirts read: “Remember my name. Elizabeth Garrow. Mother. Daughter. Sister. Aunt.” They also collected nearly $700 at the vigil, in addition to the more than $9,500 in online donations for Garrow’s 1-year-old daughter, Annovia Weismore.
“We didn’t expect it to be this big, with so many people,” Lloyd said at the candlelight vigil.
Lloyd and Bush said they didn’t know everyone who showed up to support their family, but they were glad they were there.
“There are a lot of other people out there going through the same thing and they can’t get away either, and you don’t see them come together for everyone,” Lloyd said. “I don’t know half of them, but they’ve come up to us and hugged us. It means a lot.”
Many in the crowd of at least 300 wore purple, a color representing domestic violence awareness. Lloyd and Bush said their sister was a victim of domestic abuse, and that police told Bush and other family members that Garrow’s body was “in such bad shape” that they didn’t want them to see her.
“She suffered pretty bad,” Lloyd said. “She did not deserve it. She was the type of person who would give the shirt off her back ... to somebody else. Why does this happen to somebody who treats everybody so good?”
Police have not charged anyone in connection with Garrow’s disappearance or her death.
Garrow’s husband, George McDonald Jr., 24 of Kirkville, is being held without bail in the Madison County jail on a charge he violated terms of his probation in a separate matter.
McDonald, who had a court order to stay away from his wife, was the last person Garrow was seen with at Dunkin' in Canastota between 11 a.m. and noon Wednesday, officials have said.
Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood said Sunday morning that he believes Garrow has likely been dead since Wednesday, when she went missing from the Dunkin' on North Peterboro Street, about a half a mile away from where her body was found.
Sunday night, several Canastota firefighters, police officers and EMTs attended the candlelight vigil for Garrow. One police officer walked into the crowd, and approached Lloyd and Bush near the end of the vigil to show support.
A police car and fire truck blocked North Main Street, between West Chapel and Canal streets, for an hour Sunday night while the community gathered.
Someone played “Amazing Grace” from the back of a truck at dusk, as the crowd held candles.
One woman, who family members said they did not know, spoke to the crowd briefly: “We are Canastota, N.Y. and we are all family," she said. "This tragedy hits all of us at home. Everybody did not know Lizzie, but we all give our condolences to the family.”
Others walked up to Lloyd and Bush and gave them a hug, kind words and even a few dollars.
“Even if we don’t know them, it means a lot that they care about her that much,” Lloyd said. “We appreciate it more than we can say.”
Later, someone wrote out “Lizzie” in tealight candles on the sidewalk outside her home on North Main Street. The memorial also included votive candles, carnations and red roses.
As the crowd dispersed, Bush let go of a balloon she had been holding onto. She and her sister watched it fly into the sky.
“We are heartbroken,” Lloyd said.
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Hundreds gather to mourn Elizabeth Garrow hours after she’s found dead; ‘Remember my name’ - syracuse.com
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