Missing woman's friends, family hold vigil

One by one, about 100 people lit candles during a vigil held for a missing Reynoldsburg woman Thursday night on The Oval on the center of Ohio State's campus. As the flames from the candles spread throughout the vigil, only the sounds of muffled sobs, crickets and lawn sprinklers could be heard breaking the silence.

But as the wax began to flow, those who knew Julie Popovich offered their condolences, poems and prayers.

Shane Newsom, a street pastor who had just returned from Washington D.C., led a prayer before the candlelit group.

"We ask you, dear God, that you can help us find her," he said as he closed his request.

Popovich, a 20-year-old part-time student at OSU, has been missing for more than two weeks. She was last seen in the campus-area leaving Ledo's Lounge at 2608 N. High St. in the early morning of Aug. 11.

"I've just been thinking about how someone's taken her, that someone has her, that someone's hurt her," said Popovich's mother, Peggy White.

Julie Popovich's father Vic Popovich did not attend the vigil because he was too exhausted from the ordeal to attend, White said.

For Terry Tope, one of Julie Popovich's uncles, the grief of not knowing where his niece is or what might have happened to her is also taking its toll.

"I've been dealing with the uncertainty of everything," he said. "It's always on your mind. It affects everything you do."

But Tope said that more than anything, he's concerned for his niece, her mother and her father.

Mark Tope, another uncle, had a message for her.

"Just come home," he said. "We don't care how we get you back."

Mark Tope also had a message for the person(s) who might have taken his niece: "Do you realize how much misery you have caused so many people?"

"These people should be locked away forever," said Dennis and Angie Widmayer, friends of Dena Honeycut, Julie Popovich's aunt. The Widmayers said they have 19- and 20-year-old daughters. If one of them had been taken, they said, they would be doing exactly what Julie Popovich's family is doing.

"I mean, how would we feel if we lost one of our daughters? It's hard to imagine" Angie Widmayer said.

Kelly McBeth, a friend and co-worker of Julie Popovich, said she is a unique and sweet individual, the type of person who "sort of sticks with you."

McBeth said she hopes her friend is alive, but that she is not certain.

"It's in God's hands now - it's for no one to say," McBeth said. "You just never know ... one person's little detail about the night she went missing could solve the mystery."

The only physical clue found in the case to this point is a driver's license belonging to Teonna Brooks, a friend of Julie's who let her borrow it the night they went to the bar. An unidentified woman found the license near Hoover Reservoir, a popular fishing spot about 20 miles from Ledo's Lounge. The ID was mailed to Brooks, who recognized its potential importance to the case and gave it to police.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, a team of divers has been searching the reservoir near where the card was found, but that the majority of the dive team's job pertained to another case.

Justin Webb, a friend of Julie's, gave a description of the man he said he saw with her the night she disappeared to WBNS-TV. Webb described the man as having short black hair, wearing blue jeans, a blue polo shirt and a shell necklace.

Anyone with information regarding Popovich's disappearance can to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 614-645-TIPS. A reward of up to $50,000 is being offered by the organization for information about the case.

Slideshow of Vigil