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Mother of homicide victim, 16: Why Gina?
BY ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Photo
Photo of 16-year old Gina Burger; the victim found June 24, 2014 in a Mercer County landfill.
Jayden DiRenzo often played with his aunt, Gina Bacher Burger, in the small park by their Compass West apartment in the township.
Two-year old Jayden “adored her. She was like his playmate, and he would say ‘come on’ and take her down the hall and go play,” Gina’s mom, Jacqueline Bacher, said Saturday.
Now, in the wake of her 16-year-old daughter being identified as the girl whose body was discovered in a Grove City, Pa., landfill Wednesday, Jayden is looking for his aunt, Bacher said.
Jayden heard Gina’s phone ring earlier this week and knocked on her door, saying “ ‘phone, phone,’ and it just breaks my heart,” Bacher said.
Bacher, who wants her daughter to be remembered by both of her parents’ last names — Bacher and Burger, and Ashley DiRenzo, Gina’s’s older sister and Jayden’s mother, talked with The Vindicator about Gina, who went missing Monday after going to get tea bags from a neighbor in their apartment complex.
“Something wasn’t right...she would’ve come back upstairs,” Bacher said of her daughter’s disappearance that night.
Once she was gone for two hours, the family called police. Authorities canvassed the area Wednesday, and detectives searched the apartment Thursday looking for clues, including taking a piece of wall and two railings, Bacher said. “They did [that] before they knew that was her,” she said.
“The reality hasn’t set in yet because I haven’t seen the body yet,” Bacher said. Gina had just turned 16 June 10, she noted.
Austintown Police Chief Robert Gavalier said Gina “had one stab wound, but we’re not sure if that’s the cause [of death].”
They are waiting on toxicology reports.
“I wish she was still here, but I hope she didn’t suffer,” DiRenzo said of her sister.
Gavalier said there are no persons of interest in the case yet to his knowledge.
Gina was identified at about 2:30 p.m. Friday as the teen who’s body was found at Tri-County Industries in Grove City, Pa., Wednesday afternoon. Tri-County serves nine counties.
Gina was born in Florida, where the family lived for 12 years, and had moved to the Mahoning Valley only a few months ago from Texas.
The Erie (Pa.) County coroner still had her body Saturday as the family made viewing arrangements and cremation for the middle of next week.
The family is going to set up a memorial fund in Gina’s name for cremation and funeral costs. Any leftover funds will go to support parents who lose their children and can’t afford service costs, Bacher said.
The fund will be set up Monday through PNC Bank. Anyone seeking more information about the fund, or who is interested in donating, can call Kinnick Funeral Home at 330-793-4675.
“She would want to help someone,” Bacher said of her daughter and the idea of the memorial fund.
Bacher said residents of Compass West have approached her offering support, including one who would usually just say hello in passing. She said that resident gave her a hug and told her, “As a mother and a woman, I’m sorry.”
The family said Gina was kind, enjoyed reading books, often played with her nephew and liked to play cards with family members.
“Why would someone want to do this?” her sister asked.
Bacher cautioned parents to keep a closer eye on their kids.
“Who would think their child wouldn’t be safe going down the hall for tea bags?”
She added: “If you see something suspicious, call the police.”