Dozens of people gathered in Delta on Sunday night to pay their respects to a local man who was found dead weeks after being reported missing.Joseph Maku, an 18-year-old who was just weeks into his first semester as a kinesiology student at the University of British Columbia, was remembered as an "incredible young man" with a bright future..Lisa Marie Walker, whose son grew up with Maku, attended the vigil at North Delta Secondary and shared photos with the Western Standard. They show his friends and family lighting candles in front of a table filled with his favourite things as well as pictures from throughout his life.Maku was first reported missing on October 22, and before long a Facebook group was set up to give the community a place to collectively work on finding him. Despite the efforts of its 2,000 members, as well as police and others, weeks went by with no luck.On November 29, Maku's older sister Brenda announced that he had been found dead in Delta. "The cause of death is still under investigation by the BC Coroners Service," she wrote in a post to the group, noting that it appeared as though he had died shortly after going missing. "The investigation is still ongoing, and it will be long before we know how my brother passed away."In a post on her personal account, she remembered her brother as the family's "beacon of joy.""I can't believe Heaven gets to hear his loud laugh and see his wide, toothy smile, while all we can do is look back at photos and videos of his joyous, happy spirit here on Earth," she lamented. "I can't believe that Heaven gets to listen to him bounce, and jump, and run, and struggle to stay still, while we sit here, on Earth, in silence, thinking about how he used to move back and forth, bounce the basketball, dance, sing, and always (always) make himself something to eat."A GoFundMe set up while he was still missing has since raised nearly $46,000, money which will go towards funeral costs, as well as paying rent, bills, and counselling for the Maku family. Dominic Maku, father to Joseph, Brenda, and their three siblings, passed away in 2009, leaving their mother to raise them by herself.
