Friends, family mourn loss of 12-year-old girl
wwltv.com
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 5:50 PM
Updated today at 6:47 PM
Doug Mouton / Northshore Bureau Chief
MANDEVILLE, La. -- Friends call Samantha Vinturella a bright, happy child, and they gathered Tuesday night for a special service at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Mandeville.
Search crews found the body of Vinturella after she went missing after a boating accident last weekend.
Samantha would have been a 7th grader here at Our Lady of the Lake this fall. We talked to many people who knew her well. They called her gregarious, charismatic and well-loved.
“It has been, really a tough few days for all her friends and her family and just unbelievably sad,” said Ana Scheuermann.
Unbelievably sad was the common theme Tuesday in Mandeville, as the parents of Samantha Vinturella's friends try to help their children understand.
“As parents, we don't understand, so having children and trying to work with them through this, it's tough. It's a tough task,” said Jeanelle Scherich. “We tell them to remain prayerful. We tell them to be thankful that Samantha was a part of their lives for as long as she was, and continue to focus on the things that they can remember, the great memories that they had with her.”
The way the events played out, friends say, made it worse. It was roughly 67 agonizing hours from the time when Samantha went overboard until her body was found.
Now they can remember the girl who friends say lit up a room.
“You just never knew what was coming from Samantha. Very unpredictable, but always so positive and so light hearted in her thoughts,” Scherich said. “She was just an amazing, amazing child.”
Scheuermann said, “Samantha was the kind of kid that if she was coming to your house, you knew you were going to have a really good time. Bright. She brightened up a room when she walked in the door. She'd come in and there'd be instant conversation. You knew you were having a good time because she was such a beautiful, happy bright child. She's unbelievably special.”
This is a tight-knit community, and the Vinturellas are very popular and well loved in this community, and friends say Samantha will be very missed.
The girl’s mother, Elizabeth Vinturella, issued a statement through the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office. She thanked all those involved in the search.
“Sam was so special," Elizabeth Vinturella said. “It was very important to our family that we find her.
“We would like to thank all the people who worked together. We knew everything that could be done would be done. We knew no one here would stop until they found her. There was a spirit of commitment and cooperation."
>>>I attended this Mass tonight. What a fitting memorial of an angel. Fr. Talamo, at the end of Mass, implored children and parents alike to share your love; to say I love you and show genuine affection for one another. Hardly a dry eye in the house of God tonight.
Samantha Vinturella: rest in peace!
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