They came to remember and recollect.
Colleagues and employees of Latrobe Area Hospital held a private memorial service Wednesday night for Dr. Andrew Bagby, whose murder remains under investigation by the state police.
About 100 people attended the service at Unity Chapel on Donohoe Road to remember the 28-year-old resident whose body was found in Keystone State Park in Derry Township on Nov. 6. He had been shot five times and suffered a severe head wound.
Bagby's parents, David and Kate Bagby of Sunnyvale, Calif., and an uncle, James Bagby of St. Louis, Mo., also attended the service held by the Greater Latrobe Ministerial Association.
Bagby's remains were cremated and his ashes were spread over California, England and St. Louis, places where he had family ties.
Dr. R. Steven Childers, who worked with Bagby at the hospital's Saltsburg office, remembered Bagby's enthusiasm for medicine and his friendliness, sense of humor and humility.
Two weeks before he died, Bagby brought his parents to Saltsburg to see where he worked and meet the people he worked with.
"I know that he loved his parents and was very proud of them. He was the only resident who brought his parents to work with him," Childers recalled. "When he introduced them to each of us, it was Mom and Dad, not as Mr. and Mrs. Bagby."
Dr. William DiCuccio, a fellow resident, also noted Bagby's dedication to medicine.
"What a loss this is for not only his parents, friends and our program but for the medical profession as well," DiCuccio said. "I am still saddened about all the patients whose lives would have been touched by his career."
The service was private. Reporters were not allowed to attend or interview anyone from the hospital. The hospital's public relations staff provided written copies of the speakers' remarks.
State police continue to conduct interviews in their search for Bagby's killer.
Investigators have been interviewing every resident in the Family Practice Program, other employees with whom he had contact, friends and former girlfriends.
After Bagby was killed, there was some apprehension among residents about their personal safety.
The state police have assured hospital administrators and residents that Bagby's death was not connected to the hospital.
Dr. John Bertolino, director of the Family Residency program, has been meeting daily with the remaining 17 residents assuring them that they are safe.
But some residents privately say they are worried about safety at Latrobe.
Residents are on call every six days and stay at the Family Practice Center, which is in the back of the hospital.
They must leave the center to enter the main hospital building through a loading dock area which, they say, is dark. They are concerned about moving between buildings in the evenings when they are on call.
Troopers have questioned another physician who shared an apartment with Bagby and learned that Bagby had visited Keystone State Park at least twice.
Once he took his parents to see the area and on another occasion went with other physicians who are hunters to spot deer.
The state police have asked for the public's help in trying to find a .22-caliber handgun that may be the murder weapon.
Walkers, bikers and hikers who frequent the state park are asked to look for a Phoenix Arms semi-automatic that police suspect may have been used to kill Bagby.
Despite a search of the immediate area and a portion of Keystone Lake, troopers have not been able to locate the gun, which was given to Bagby by another physician who attended the same medical school as Bagby.
Bagby had arrived in the area last July to start a three-year residency. He worked at the hospital's family practice center and at a satellite office in Saltsburg.
On Nov. 5, he was supposed to meet the hospital's chief resident for a drink but never arrived. Two people out for an early morning stroll found his body in a parking lot overlooking Keystone Lake.
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