Friends gathered on Saturday afternoon to sing and remember the deceased, who was “like a second mother” to some of the younger mourners.
About 60 people came to the gathering, which took place in a small park behind the library in Athus, just across the Belgian border to Luxembourg. Together they remembered their dead friend Diana Santos, a 40-year-old woman who had just moved to the Grand Duchy during the summer.
On 19 September, her headless torso was found in the French town of Mont-Saint-Martin near the Luxembourgish border. The Grand Ducal Police have since taken a 48-year-old suspect into custody and charged him with murder and manslaughter.
The emotional memorial service ended when mourners let a number of white balloons fly to the sky in honour of their deceased friend. The moment was accompanied by a video of Diana Santos singing in a karaoke bar, one of her life’s great passions.
And it will be her singing that will remain in the memories of the people who gathered in Athus to commemorate the life of the murder victim. All of the mourners present at the ceremony knew her from the karaoke bar where she worked until she moved to Diekirch in summer.
People described Santos as a joyful person who always smiled and never showed when she was sad. Her singing touched people’s emotions, and she was an even better dancer, remembered some at the scene.
Santos also held a special place in the hearts of young people coming to the karaoke bar on a regular basis. A young girl explained that the 40-year-old used to teach her how to sing and improve her voice. “Diana was like a second mother to me”, the girl recounted in tears.
Another girl at the ceremony remembered the time Santos came to her house to sing for her. But, ever since the 40-year-old moved to Luxembourg in summer, none of the people present in Athus had heard from her again.