Slain Teen Remembered

(originally published by CBS 3 KYW Philadelphia August 1, 2004. Credit to Associated Press)

TOMS RIVER, NJ (AP) Friends of a slain Ocean County teen and strangers moved by her death are expressing their grief at an impromptu memorial and by posting condolence messages at a Web site set up in her honor.

Brittney Gregory, 16, was missing for more than two weeks before her body was found Tuesday buried in a shallow grave in Lakewood. Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher said she suffered head injuries, but they were not fatal and investigators do not know yet how she died.

Dozens of mourners paid their respects Sunday during visiting hours at a local funeral home. Only family members were permitted to attend her private funeral, scheduled for Monday.

Since the discovery of Gregory's body, a makeshift memorial containing cards, notes, stuffed animals and other items was erected near where her body was found. And a Web site was set up so people many who never met Gregory could post their sympathies to her family and also make contributions to help defray the cost of her funeral.

Many of the notes at the site which has drawn e-mails from people in Florida, New York and Ohio reflect on how the teen's life came to an abrupt and tragic end, the Asbury Park Sunday Press reported.

``Rest, sweet angel, for you are now in a better place! God is lucky to have such a beautiful soul alongside Him in heaven,'' one person wrote. Another, recalling several conversations he had with Gregory in recent years, wrote that he was ``completely heartbroken'' over her death and planned to donate his next paycheck to her family.

Gregory, a straight-A student at Brick Memorial High School who dreamed of becoming a forensic scientist, disappeared July 11 after she called her mother from her father's house and said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home. Her mother told her that if she waited for about 45 minutes, her sister would give her a ride, but Brittney did not answer the phone later that night.

A family acquaintance, Jack Fuller, 38, of Howell Township, has been charged with murder in Gregory's death and is being held on $1 million bail. Fuller has a history of drug and theft-related arrests and was released from prison in April 2003.

Expected at Monday's funeral is William Gregory, Brittney's 23-year-old half brother, who once was engaged to Fuller's daughter. He is serving 16 months in a youth correctional facility in Hamilton under a plea deal he reached after being charged with conspiring to rob a man in 2003, and his family believes authorities will allow him to attend the services.

However, he will not be allowed to serve as a pallbearer, as the family had requested, the newspaper reported.