DEER ISLAND — More than 100 people gathered Saturday night, with tears in their eyes and teddy bears in their arms, as each grappled with the mysterious death of an unidentified little girl whose remains were discovered on the nearby walking path last month.
Debbie Larson, the event’s organizer, passed out candles and zebra-stiped lapel pins before thanking the crowd for attending. She asked that the people keep the young girl in their thoughts and to continue to search for new leads.
“Check with preschools, with day cares, with nannies,” said Larson, a Georgetown resident. “It’s clear that somebody knows something, and we’re going to figure it out.”
As Larson spoke, her 3-year-old daughter, Emma, played at her feet, tugging on her mother’s pants and tossing rocks. It’s this haunting parallel — her own child playing in the spot where another girl her age was found dead just weeks before — that drives Larson to continue her search.
“It could’ve been her,” Larson said of her daughter. “It could’ve been anyone’s child.”
This sentiment was echoed by many at the vigil. Sierra O’Connell, 15, of Winthrop said the computer-generated image of the missing child strongly resembles her 5-year-old sister, Kennedy. So much so that local police visited her home shortly after the remains were found last month to question her family, she said.
“People are stopping my mother on the street, asking if it’s her daughter,” O’Connell said. “I can’t help but compare her to my sister. It’s so weird.”
After Larson’s brief remarks, O’Connell and others walked to the water’s edge, adding candles, balloons, and pink teddy bears to a growing pile of trinkets that passersby have left in memoriam.
Janice Capello, 57, of Winthrop set a photo of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on rocks beside the water. On the back of the photo she wrote a message, “sorry little angel.” Beside the photograph sat a stuffed Minnie Mouse, a Nemo toy, and a ballerina doll.
The girl’s remains, wrapped in a zebra-striped fleece blanket, were found on June 25 by a woman walking her dog. Since the grisly discovery, investigators have struggled to identify the child. Officials have said she was 4 years old, had long brown hair and brown eyes, was wearing polka dot leggings, and stood about 3½ feet tall. After a month, investigators have not identified her cause of death.
Investigators have appealed to the public, searching for answers through a texting tip line and a recently launched billboard campaign. The 84 signs display the computer-generated image of the girl’s face beneath the phrase, “Did you know me?”
David Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said in a phone interview Saturday that detectives have received at least a dozen tips a day since they launched their investigation. They have ruled out many of those leads, he said.
Detectives did not attend Saturday’s event, but Procopio said he hoped attendees will call the tip line if they think of any new information. State Police believe “very much that someone knows who she is,” Procopio said.
“We are grateful for all the leads we’ve received, but we need more,” Procopio said. “If there is a child you used to see in your neighborhood, or in your church group, or the park with your kids that you haven’t seen in a while, let us know.”
Robert DeLeo, speaker of the state House, attended the event, and commended State Police’s efforts. DeLeo hopes the child is identified, he said, “so she can stop being treated like a non-entity.”
“I want this little baby to know there are a lot of people that care about her,” he said.
Larson’s boyfriend, Peter Particelliof Georgetown, read a psalm to the group before they dispersed.
“Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me,” he read, his words echoing over the quiet group. A smaller voice cut through the crowd, Emma’s, as she sang “The Farmer and the Dell,” and called to her mother.
“She doesn’t know what’s going on,” said Larson, tousling her daughter’s blonde hair. “She’s an innocent child, and I hope she stays that way. All children should get to be children.”
Jacqueline Tempera can be reached at jacqueline.tem-pera@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @jacktemp.