GARIBAY: Olivehurst family mourns its loss
Chairo Yosigey Garibay Ferreyra's body was put to rest Saturday, but the search for her murderer continues.
“We're not going to give up on this case,” said Yuba County Undersheriff Steve Durfor.
The 20-year-old was buried at Sierra View Memorial Park more than a month after she disappeared from her family's Olivehurst home.
“Though we cry and feel sadness because of the horrible crime, we are here to celebrate her life,” Rev. Robert Copsey said during Mass in St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Marysville.
Garibay, whose body was discovered Monday, died of injuries to her head. Investigators do not know what sort of weapon the attacker used.
“Where she is, there is no suffering, no tears,” Copsey continued. “Death becomes a transition. It's an end to a beginning, and the beginning of forever.”
Mourners filled the pews to hear the two-hour Mass of Christian burial. Many stood and sat on the church floor. Some listened to the service from the church steps outside.
“We're humble to see all the people who came together in this community,” Olivia Ferreyra told the crowd. “She brought a lot of joy to people's lives. You can tell today that somehow, in some way, she touched all of you.
“There's still a lot the family is going to go through to figure out why (she was killed),” Ferreyra said.
Garibay's body had been wrapped in a plastic tarp and weighed down in water by two chunks of concrete, according to Sheriff Virginia Black. The body surfaced after a series of storms last month raised river water levels.
Motorists found Garibay's body in a 20-foot-deep ditch near the Union Pacific Railroad tracks north of Plumas-Arboga Road. It was about a quarter mile from her family's Maplehurst Street home.
“It's tragic,” Durfor said.
Garibay was last seen alive at about 5 a.m. Dec. 11 She was supposed to meet her parents at church later that morning.
The family's 1995 Toyota Camry was found submerged in the Bear River later the same day.
“Now, she smiles down upon us from a window of the Father's house,” Copsey said.
Anyone with information about Garibay's murder is asked to call the Yuba County Sheriff's Department at 749-7777.
Appeal-Democrat reporter Eve Hightower can be reached at 749-4724. You may e-mail her at ehightower@appeal-democrat.com.
