Thursday, 4:30 PM
Funeral for victim of mob hit held 10 years after her death
By Megan Tench, Globe Staff
MELROSE -- Nineteen year-old Aislin Silva was finally laid to rest this morning, 10 years after she was killed and dismembered in an infamous mob hit. About four dozen family and friends attended the funeral at Trinity Episcopal Church, where Silva's remains were carried in a urn.
Silva's remains were found by investigators on Dec. 1 on a hillside near the Welch School in Peabody. She was killed in 1996 by the members of the DeCologero Crew, a drug gang that operated out of a gym in Woburn run by Paul A. Cologero.
Her funeral was a solemn affair, with hymns, prayers, and muffled sniffles as mourners faced the horrifying reality of Silva's death.
The US attorney's office in Boston won convictions against six small-time organized crime figures for killing Silva and for related crimes.
Hair and blood from her was found in a Danvers trash bin in 1997, but her body had not been located until Dec. 1. A police excavation team dug near the school for nearly six months before they found her remains.
