She was remembered as "sunny, funny Kelsey," a streak of light, a comet's spark, a 13-year-old girl who drew people into her orbit and held them there.

On Wednesday, Kelsey Shannon drew them again. A standing-room-only crowd of more than 800 mourners packed a Westminster church, all to remember the sassy, effervescent teen who went missing in October. Last week her body was found in a ditch about a half-mile from her Broomfield home.

Now, she was back with the people who loved her.

"This is Kelsey's 'little community,'" said her godfather and brother-in-law, Tim Horne, as he looked over the crowd at Family in Christ Community Church. "This is what kept us going."

Kelsey vanished Oct. 14 after a dinnertime tiff with her parents about her new circle of friends.

Her 18-year-old boyfriend, Alex Pacheco, was arrested Saturday and is being held without bail. He's expected to be charged Friday in her death.

"We have all sorts of questions, some of which may never be answered," Pastor Paul Jorden said. "But a life is not defined by its last hours. We gather to honor all the chapters in the life of this young girl and her irreplaceable and irrepressible spirit."

Irrepressible, Kelsey was. On a family trip to Cape Cod, Mass., Jorden said, "the rest of the family wasn't even out of the car and she was already befriending people on the beach ... she was forever breaking the ice with strangers."

A video suggested how much Kelsey, adopted as an infant, was cherished by her family and her parents, Tom and Dottie Shannon.

In a series of photos, Kelsey was seen as a beloved, much cuddled child. In some she wore a glittering "birthday tiara." On Wednesday the tiara, surrounded by flowers, was perched on the head of a favorite teddy bear.

Kelsey also was eager to meet the world. Kelsey's friend, Sylvana Strong, recalled how she and Kelsey would slip away to "buy Starbucks."

"She didn't care what people thought of her," Sylvana said. "She was never afraid to try new things ... she helped me grow up."

Chick Horne, part of the extended family, recalled scurrying around at a party, filling drink orders. Finally he got to Kelsey and asked, "What can I get you?"

Kelsey didn't pause a beat.

"A Red Bull," she said, referring to the highly potent energy drink.

"Of all the stuff I've got in the house," Horne recalled thinking, "a Red Bull is not one of them."

Kelsey had a knack for impressing adults: "She set up camp in my life," her godmother, Marie Boyko, recalled. On visits, Boyko would soothe Kelsey's homesickness by wrapping her in a cozy blanket.

"As she grew older, she felt heavier burdens on her heart," Boyko said. "She didn't have time to figure them out, but I trust that God short-circuited that need and wrapped her in his (love)."

Kelsey's dad closed the 90-minute memorial with an unscripted, apparently spontaneous, plea to parents and young people.

"She would have loved this," Shannon told the filled sanctuary. To the young people, he said, "Please, please recognize your parents as friends — if you have needs or problems, go to them."

And to parents: "Please reach out and hug your children, because it all goes away too fast."