The service also heard from 14-year-old Alice herself as two songs she had recorded were played, leaving many people in tears
The parents of murdered schoolgirl Alice Gross have spoken of their huge loss at an emotional memorial service for their daughter.
Ros Hodgkiss and Jose Gross spoke to hundreds of wellwishers who had queued in driving rain to attend the humanist service in Greenford, west London, today.
They also heard from 14-year-old talented singer Alice herself, as two songs she had recorded were played, leaving many people in tears.
Her mother told the congregation: "I have been numbed by shock and grief, I have felt outrage and anger at the loss of her life and unbelievable sadness at the emptiness that has been left.
"I have wracked my brains for all the 'what ifs' of that day, anything that might have stopped this random, incomprehensible tragedy.
"It is even harder to talk about that pain than it is to talk about Alice. I cannot imagine life without Alice."
Mrs Hodgkiss added that she would miss Alice most on all the special family occasions, like Christmas, Alice's birthday on Valentine's Day, Mothers' Day and her own birthday.
She said: "I think of all the ... hugs, shared jokes, evenings spent snuggled on the sofa, goodnight kisses, the confidence of after-school conversations, Alice playing the piano in her dressing gown (and) singing, shopping, baking, the way Alice still called me 'mummy'.
"The future seems bleak without Alice. It is only the incredible support of family friends and the wider community that has kept us going.
"We have been surrounded by people who have shown us that they cared, acts of individual kindness, a poster put up, a ribbon tied to a wall, thoughtful words, poem, shared condolence cards or Facebook message, flowers and teddies left as a tribute to Alice."
Alice went missing on August 28 and her body was found in the River Brent after a five-week search – the biggest operation by the Met Police since the 7/7 terror attacks.
A specialist team recovered her corpse, wrapped in a plastic sack and weighted down with bricks and logs. A postmortem into her death proved inconclusive.
The decomposed body of Arnis Zalkans, 41, who the Met Police named as its prime suspect, was discovered hanging in woodland in a nearby park four days later.
Zalkalns was reported missing on September 5, a week after Alice vanished. But it was only when CCTV revealed him cycling behind Alice along a canal tow path that police began to link the two disappearances.
Scotland Yard has since faced major criticism over the handling of its investigation, which is subject to an internal review.
Alice was buried 10 days ago in a private ceremony but her family held today's event to say thank you to all the people in the local community, who came together to help find her when she was missing and who rallied round after their worst fears were realised.
