Almost a month after Akins sophomore Darian Longoria was first reported missing, Austin police announced they had found his remains along Onion Creek southwest of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in early January.

In the evening of Jan. 9, Longoria’s friends and family gathered at the place his body was discovered to mourn his passing with a candlelight vigil and comfort each other in their time of grief. His mother Guillerma Longoria tearfully told the crowd that she loved her son.

“I still love him and I know many of you love him just as much as I do,” she said. “He’s going to be missed. I know for a fact, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I know my son is in a better place.”

During the press conference held by police department earlier that day, Austin police said they believe that Longoria’s death was a homicide. Lt. Justin Newsome said detectives had investigated productive leads, causing them to believe that the people responsible for Longoria’s death think he was involved in drug robberies.

Newsome said that detectives are currently looking for another group of people who were involved in the robberies. Police are looking for anyone with knowledge of Longoria’s death to come forward and talk to investigators.

“No matter what this young man was involved in, he was 16-year-old child, and he did not deserve to die in the manner that he did,” Newsome said.

After the news of Longoria’s death spread across the Akins campus, friends organized a fundraiser to help pay for funeral costs.

Losing a close friend can be hard for people of all ages, but it can be especially difficult for young people who have never experienced the loss of a loved one.

“Me and Darian have been close since middle school and losing a good friend takes a big chunk out of me,” sophomore Lafayette Turner said.

School social worker Colleen Arnold has worked to help counsel students who were upset by Longoria’s passing.

“If anyone is having trouble with coping with Darian’s loss you can come to my office and I have eight different counselors that you can talk to,” Arnold said. “And, also, we have a Loss and Grief (support) group. Bottom line is we all are here for you.”

Longoria had many family members and friends that are going to miss his smile, great attitude, comedic spirit, and great manners.

“Darian was one of my good and closest friends, and he was always able to make me smile just from making a joke or making a silly face, so I’m going to miss that,” sophomore Jacob Aguilar said.

The investigation into his death is ongoing and detectives are asking anyone with any information regarding this incident to call the Homicide Tip Line at 512-477-3588 or Crime Stoppers at 512-472-TIPS or text “Tip 103” + your message to CRIMES.