Looking at photographs of his goddaughter in front of the altar at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, the Rev. Waldemar Maciag said he remembers the teenager as a vibrant, charismatic young kid with an affection for music and reading.

Maciag, or Fr. V as he's affectionately called, said he first met London Rogers when she was just a 1-year-old attending church with her grandparents.

“They didn’t have family around, and they had a hard time to find someone that could be a godfather," he said. “I took that role as much as I think I could.”

Maciag said she was a curious and talkative kid. He posted a video showing him strumming a guitar as she tells a story.

“She lit up the room," he said. "She was not afraid to talk to grown-ups because she learned from her family.”

He would be invited to fa

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