Community of Linden uses Ash Wednesday as time to heal

Christians around the world observed Ash Wednesday. In the small town of Linden, the religious holiday's significance was being felt with heavy hearts.

The community came together to heal from the grim search that has put the quiet town on the map: the excavation for victims of the so-called "Speed Freak Killers" centered in Linden.

The Monsignor at Holy Cross Catholic Church said the past few weeks have been a difficult time for the people of Linden.

Hundreds attended services to observe Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, a period of repentance and renewal.  

"We pray, first of all, for all those who were victimized," said Monsignor Robert Silva. 

Congregation members and others in this tight knit community are now living with the horrors left behind by two serial killers who grew up amongst them.

"Unfortunately, this has really given Linden a bad name," said resident Karrie Piazentini. She's trying to make her sons feel safe. "Now that everyone is looking at us and saying  'Wow, what happened in Linden?' It isn't a bad place."

Just steps from the church is Linden High School where Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog were students.

"This happened so long ago, these kids didn't know anything about it until it got brought back up," said Linden High School's girls softball coach Kerry Griffith. He also attended school there with Shermantine and Herzog.

Members of the softball team, the Linden Lady Lions, told KTVU they love their small town.

"You can trust anybody," said the coach's 15-year-old daughter, Casey Griffith. "You can leave your doors unlocked."

Monsignor Silva had been invited to bless the abandoned well where investigators discovered human remains.

He described what it was like to look down into the hole: "Overwhelming sense of the reality of struggle in this created world between good and evil."    

The families of Shermantine and Herzog still live in town and Monsignor Silva said he's impressed with the community's compassion for them.