Jose Lopez, co-pastor of Iglesia Pentecostal, also called Las Vegas Pentecostal Church, conducts Sunday night's memorial service for an unidentified girl whose body was found Jan. 12 in a trash bin at The Fountains of Villa Cordova apartments, 2800 S. Eastern Ave. An overflow crowd turned out for the service. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Valley residents attend a memorial service Sunday at Iglesia Pentecostal, also called Las Vegas Pentecostal Church. The service was held for an unidentified girl found slain Jan. 12 in a trash bin. Photo by Ralph Fountain. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The image above is a manipulated photo of a girl found dead in a trash bin.

Hundreds of people gathered in a southeast Las Vegas church Sunday night to pray for a little girl they never met.

Iglesia Pentecostal, also called Las Vegas Pentecostal Church, filled up quickly with individuals and families who traveled from all over the valley to mourn an unidentified Hispanic girl, believed to be about 3 years old, who was found dead Jan. 12 in a trash bin outside The Fountains of Villa Cordova apartments at 2800 S. Eastern Ave.

"I couldn't go to work the day I heard about her," said a tearful North Las Vegas grandmother who asked to be identified as Susana. "I was devastated. I can't imagine anyone doing something like that. It's just so cold."

The mostly Hispanic crowd filled the church and overflowed into the parking lot. Parents, grandparents and children brought teddy bears, stuffed animals and bouquets of pink roses and white carnations to lay beneath a poster-size composite picture of the brown-eyed girl authorities have dubbed "Jane Cordova Doe."

The well-groomed girl was found dressed in purple jogging pants and a white fleece jacket with pink hearts on it, Las Vegas police said.

Medical examiners last week determined the girl died from blunt force trauma to her torso and ruled the case a homicide.

The "America's Most Wanted" national television show aired a segment on the girl's case Saturday night, and Las Vegas police are offering a $44,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed the girl. Authorities said Sunday that they still do not have any solid leads.

Many of those who attended the service wiped away tears throughout. Several said they were still trying to make sense of the death and the way the child's body was treated as trash. They said their faith was helping them through it.

"We have to be patient and trust in the Lord," said Jose Bueno, a father of two who was clutching a tattered Bible. "I believe in justice. Something will come out soon."

Pastor David Jimenez organized the service for his parishioners, who he said were heartbroken by news of the child's death.

"It really touched our hearts knowing she's a child of God and didn't deserve to be dumped in the trash," he said. "She was made in his image, and we all feel her death very deeply."

Because Jane Cordova Doe was Hispanic, many of those at the church said they felt especially close to her.

"These things happen often, but tonight it hits close to home," co-pastor Jose Lopez said.

A large number of children attended the service with their parents.

Nine-year-old Eric Jimenez said he came to support the "little girl who doesn't have parents."

"It's such a bad tragedy," the fourth-grader said. "I feel bad for her. If I could meet her parents, I would tell them that she looked like a very nice person."

Silvestri Junior High seventh-grader Brenda Palos said she couldn't understand the death.

"I know they killed her and dumped her in a trash bin," she said in Spanish. "No one should die that way."

Brenda's mother, Teresa Palos, said the way Jane Cordova Doe was left goes against every instinct a parent has.

"I don't understand how such cruel people exist," she said in Spanish. "God loans us children to protect and to love."

Many said they came to the church because they wanted to give a surrogate sense of family to the dead girl who was seemingly abandoned by her own.

"She belongs to us now," Susana said.