WATCH ABOVE: Family and friends of Jessica Ann Miller said goodbye Thursday at a visitation in Sussex. Miller’s sudden death has devastated the community, which is still waiting for answers about how she died. Global’s Alex Abdelwahab reports.
SUSSEX, N.B. – There was a large outpouring of support as family and friends remembered Jessica Ann Miller at a visitation Thursday.
The visitation for the 20-year-old, from Apohaqui, was held at the Wallace Funeral Home in Sussex.
Family friend Diana Mackay said that her children were the same age as Miller and her siblings and grew up with the family.
“I worked with her mom at Sobey’s and it’s a real hard impact,” she said.
“I could not imagine if it had been my daughter. I would have been the same way.”
Earlier, Miller’s mother, Gale, thanked friends, family and even complete strangers for their support on Facebook. She said that everyone was welcome at the ceremony to pay their respects.
Miller was known as smart, funny and compassionate by those her knew her.
Her sudden death shocked the tight-knit communities of Sussex and Apohaqui.
The Sobey’s grocery store on Main Street, where Gale Miller has worked for many years, has been taking donations for the family since Monday. Store manager Phil Sherwood said the response from the community has been overwhelming.
“The staff and I felt that we had to do something,” he said. “So we simply made it easy for everyone to make a simple donation to the Miller family.”
He said donations will be accepted at the customer service counter and they will continue to accept them for as long as they continue to come in.
“We’ll be more than happy to make sure it gets to the Miller family.”
It’s been a week since Miller was last seen by her family. They reported her missing on July 12.
Miller’s body was found in a wooded area in Prince of Wales, just west of Saint John around 8 p.m. Monday. Her car was found in Saint John on Monday afternoon.
Jesse Edward Reynolds, 20, from Hampton has been charged with committing an indignity to a dead body in connection with her death.
On Thursday, Cst. Jullie Rogers-Marsh, spokesperson for the RCMP in New Brunswick, said police need the public’s assistance to piece together what happened to Miller.
“We’re asking anyone with information to call, even if they feel it’s minute, and let our investigators decide,” Cst. Rogers-Marsh said.
She added that Miller was last seen by her family at 5:30 p.m. on July 9th, and their last communication with her was a text message received at about 7:30 a.m. July 10th.
She confirmed an autopsy was performed on Tuesday, but said there are no results at this time and the cause of death has not been confirmed.
“This is a tragic and sad situation and we’re doing everything we can to investigate,” Cst. Rogers-Marsh said. “We know her family wants to know what happened to her and so do we.”
A service celebrating Miller’s life will be held at the Wallace Community Chapel at 2 p.m. Friday.
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