Thousands say farewell to Samantha

An unidentified mourner prays over Samantha's flower-covered coffin.

GARDEN GROVE, California (CNN) -- Two days before Samantha Runnion would have turned 6, thousands of mourners attended a funeral Wednesday evening for the girl who touched the nation's heart when she was kidnapped and killed.

"Samantha was all that was good in the world, and what happened to her is all that was evil in the world," said Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona, who led the investigation.

Struggling to hold back tears, Carona said that despite the work of hundreds of people, they could not bring Samantha back to her family alive.

Samantha was snatched kicking and screaming outside her Orange County home on July 15 and then sexually assaulted and killed. Her nude body was discovered less than 24 hours after her disappearance, some 50 miles from her home.

"This has been the most awful nightmare, and your sympathy and love throughout have given my family tremendous comfort and strength," her mother, Erin Runnion, said tearfully to the crowd.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Thousands of mourners attended the funeral for Samantha Runnion, the girl whose kidnapping and killing shocked an entire community. CNN's David Mattingly reports (July 25) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION Gallery: Samantha: 'Cherished by so many'

She had high praise for all those in law enforcement who searched for her daughter and then for her accused killer.

"Nothing can bring our baby back, but knowing that her death was handled with the utmost integrity, her life cherished by so many, does bring some solace," she said.

Most of those packing the Crystal Cathedral and standing outside did not know Samantha except through the photograph of the grinning, curly haired youngster that accompanied stories of her ordeal.

"It was terrible, it was awful, I was devastated by it," said one woman. "I couldn't believe that somebody would do something like this to such a sweet young little girl. I was really saddened by it. There aren't even words to express how I feel about it."

"I felt that the more support the family has -- the mom and the dad and all the relatives -- the better it would be for them," said one man. "I just wanted to come and give my support to the family and the friends who knew her."

Sheriff Mike Carona, preparing to speak at the service, is comforted by the Rev. Robert A. Schuller.

The printed program for Samantha's "celebration of life" included one of her drawings. Erin Runnion also introduced a slide show of her daughter's all too brief life.

Many of Samantha's favorite songs were performed by children in the Cathedral Academy Children's Chorus, including "When ever I feel Afraid" from the Broadway show "The King and I."

The director of the Cathedral's Hispanic Church Children's Choir, Vera Darling, sang "Cielito Lindo," which was the nickname Erin Runnion called Samantha.

Some of the people who arrived too late to get one of the 3,000 seats in the Crystal Cathedral stood pressed against its glass walls to watch the ceremony.

Samantha Runnion smiles in this family photo taken July 4.

The cathedral is the home church of evangelist Robert H. Schuller and the "Hour of Power." Schuller's son, Rev. Robert A. Schuller, led the interdenominational service.

Source: Paper trail of suspect

On the same day of the funeral, a source said a paper trail left by the man accused of killing the girl shows he was not where he said he was during the hours after the her disappearance.

Alejandro Avila told investigators he was at Ontario Mills Mall in San Bernardino County around the time of Samantha's abduction.

But multiple calls from his cell phone and numerous credit card purchases place Avila in nearby south Orange County, where the girl lived, the source told CNN.