NICKEL MINES, Pa. -- The black, horse-drawn buggies glided past police roadblocks Thursday morning as the Amish gathered to bury four of the five young girls who were shot to death inside their schoolhouse on Monday.

All roads leading into the village of Nickel Mines, the site of the shooting, were blocked off so the Amish could meet quietly in three homes for the funerals.

Naomi Ebersol, 7; Marian Fisher, 13; and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7, were laid to rest.


The funeral for the fifth girl, 12-year-old Anna Mae Stoltzfus, will be Friday.

The news media were kept at a church in the village of Georgetown, away from the homes but along the route where the buggies drove to the cemetery for a short graveside service. Even airspace was restricted so that TV news helicopters could not get video from above.

The funerals were held at the families' homes and lasted about two hours. They were spread throughout the day to allow families to attend each service. The girls were dressed in white to symbolize the purity of heaven. There was no singing or eulogizing at the services.

Rita Rhoads, a friend of the victims who has been sharing information with the media, said she did not attend Thursday's services.

"I have already been there and visited more than once. I've had my chance to view the bodies. I've had my chance to grieve with the families. I feel today needs just to be the family," Rhoads said.

Rhoads said that while the families are grieving, they believe their children are in heaven.

"Even if they're crying, there's a calmness. It's not desperation. They really are just hanging onto their faith in God," said Rhoads.

Meanwhile, an official at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said three of the five schoolgirls who survived the school shooting in Lancaster County, Pa., are showing progress but have an arduous road to recovery.

An 8-year-old girl with gunshot wounds to her neck and arm was in critical condition and remained on a ventilator. Hospital vice president and Chief Operating Officer Gavin Kerr said she is making "encouraging progress."

A 12-year-old girl with arm and leg injuries is in serious condition. Kerr said she can communicate with her family and caregivers and continues to make "very positive progress."



AP Image
An Amish man drives a bench wagon, used in funerals, along Mines Road in Nickel Mines, Pa.


A 10-year-old girl who has a gunshot wound to her head was in critical condition and on life support.

Kerr said the girls' families have asked that no further information on the girls be given.

Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey, Pa., where the other two girls were being treated, also stopped releasing condition updates at the parents' request.