Buttons with a picture of Tamara Dunstan were made and worn at a prayer vigil for Dunstan at St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church. Kevin Martin/Staff

Family, friends gather for vigil

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Bernard Dunstan III, right, with his nephew, Adam Cundey, at a prayer vigil for Dunstan's wife, Tamara. Kevin Martin/Staff Faye Lewis Cundey, right, Tamara Dunstan's mother, hugs co-worker Betty Sue Holsonback after the prayer vigil. Kevin Martin/Staff

As the city awaited the safe return of Tamara Dunstan from her abductors, friends, family and neighbors crowded a Saturday night vigil.

St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church was filled with hundreds of people of all ages, wearing yellow ribbons and buttons showing a smiling Mrs. Dunstan.

"I have to believe that the Lord is carrying us all right now," said the Rev. Jerry Ragan, a priest at the church who performed the marriage ceremony for Mrs. Dunstan and her husband, Bernard, in June.

"Otherwise, I'd seem overwhelmed by the obscene nature of the reason we have gathered here tonight," he said, his voice breaking with emotion.

"In the face of these crises, I find as a preacher, I'm afraid my words are inadequate," he said.

Mrs. Dunstan's husband; her mother, Faye Lewis Cundey; and other family members and close friends filled the front rows.

Numerous prayers, including a litany and a special prayer for Mrs. Dunstan and her unborn child, were raised.

The church was mostly silent except for the sobs echoing through the sanctuary.

"As Christians, we counter (evil) with love," the Rev. Ragan said. "And if nothing else, the Cundey and Dunstan families have felt the power of love, and the power of goodness surrounding them."

Psalm 32, a psalm of hope and courage, was read during prayers - read from the back of a card Mrs. Dunstan's photo on the front, affixed with a yellow ribbon.

The evening's service ended with All Through The Night, as the family left the church to continue their heartbreaking vigil.

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• Burke asks for attorney at Tamara Dunstan slaying hearing
• Woman's body is found
• Service becomes 'rally of tears'
• Heavily-wooded area yields shallow grave
• Who is Ronald Francis Burke?
• Family hopes public can help
• Woman is selfless, friends say
• Family, friends gather for vigil
• Family of missing woman releases statement
• Family members call on abductors to safely return missing 29-year-old
• Police search for pregnant Augusta woman

--From the Sunday, April 18, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle