People mourn Gabby Petito in Long Island

HOLBROOK, N.Y. – Lines of mourners paid their respects Sunday for Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old whose death on a cross-country trip has sparked a manhunt for her boyfriend.

Among those who congregated in Holbrook, about 35 miles east of New York City, were family members, friends, co-workers and people who were touched by Petito’s story even though they didn’t know her.

“She gave you love. She was just a beautiful soul. She touched everybody like she did now,” said Desiree Keeffe, a friend of Petito’s mother, Nicole.

Two fire trucks were positioned one on either side of the funeral home, each with its ladder extended, and a line of firefighters was seen filing into the building. Across the street, a chain link fence was adorned with posters featuring Petito’s image and messages such as, “She touched the world.”

Petito was reported missing Sept. 11 by her parents after she didn’t respond to calls and texts for several days while she and Brian Laundrie visited parks in the West.

Her body was discovered last Sunday in a remote area in northwestern Wyoming. Laundrie and Petito grew up on Long Island but in recent years moved to Florida.

Lexi Ruiz recalled working with Petito at a cafe in nearby Patchogue that Ruiz managed.

“She was always willing to help someone else,” Ruiz said. “She was just such a light. Anywhere she went the room lit up. It’s nice to see so many people come together and support her family.”

Inside the funeral home, dozens of floral arrangements and childhood photos of Petito lined the walls, some capturing her travels.

Mourners were greeted with a placard bearing a poem titled “Let it Be” that began with the line, “Do not grieve for me for I am free.”

Petito’s death has been classified as homicide, meaning she was killed by another person, but medical examiners in Wyoming haven’t disclosed how she died pending further autopsy results.

Investigators have been searching for Laundrie in Florida, and searched his parents’ home in North Port, about 35 miles south of Sarasota.

EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/AP A woman wipes her tears Sunday after attending the funeral service of Gabby Petito at Moloney’s Funeral Home in Holbrook, N.Y.