Loved ones gather to remember missing Stevenson High senior

Clutching electric candles, Lee Cutler's friends and family huddled together Sunday in a chilly gazebo near the Buffalo Grove Park District's Golf & Sports Center.

Many in the crowd of about 100 people talked about how the 18-year-old from Buffalo Grove touched their lives -- and wished he could touch them once again.

Cutler's friend Courtney Levy said, "There are a lot of people that cared about him and really miss him, and we just want him to come home."

Cutler disappeared Oct. 20. His car was found two days later near a river outside Baraboo, Wis. Despite an extensive search, his body was never found, although his pants, wallets and car keys were pulled from the river, while his backpack and his yarmulke were found on the shore.

At Sunday's vigil -- family spokesman Daniel De Grazia stressed this was not a memorial service -- several were optimistic, including Cutler's mother, Beth Frazin.

Beth Frazin said a woman whose son had committed suicide called her from New York. The woman told her, "You're lucky, because you have hope, and hope is all that we have in life."

She advised the audience, "Everybody has got to love their children, because our children are the future."

Frazin fondly recalled a child who would walk around in his bare feet, followed a vegetarian diet, was interested in recycling and saving the world and would give a hamburger to a homeless man.

She said a fund has been established at Harris Bank in Buffalo Grove to help find Cutler.

In addition, a private investigator has been hired to help in the search, and friends of the boy have started a Facebook site.

"We just need to know that he is safe and nothing is wrong," Beth Frazin said.

Cutler's stepfather, Barry Frazin, said this is the hardest time in his life. He said the relationship with his stepson had just started to click. "I got a message for you, Lee. I need for you to come home. I know all of us do. But I personally need for you to come home, so we can continue this incredible relationship," he said.

He added: "You have the combination to the locker where the snow plow is, and I don't know it. I won't be able to plow my driveway."

Others, like Cutler's friend Mark Levy, also laced their reminiscences with humor. Levy said he decided not to write a speech, knowing that, "If Lee had a speech he probably would not even think about writing and would probably burn the paper for warmth."

Sasha Beckov remembered a thoughtful friend. During the week of his disappearance, she said, "The first thing he said to me was, 'Smile. Be happy. Everything will be OK.'"

Cutler's cousin, Ross Shapiro, told everyone to warm up the way the penguins do by moving close together. He said the electric lights reminded him that Hanukkah is approaching. "The darkest time of the year. The shortest days. The longest nights. The coldest time. That's when we light candles.

"May all our words tonight come together like a great Hanukkah light of hope. It should bring you warmth. It should bring you light to guide you back home."