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EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Latest on a funeral of an El Paso shooting victim whose companion had few family (all times local):
11:15 a.m.
A crowd of strangers has said goodbye to an El Paso, Texas, shooting victim after her longtime companion said he felt alone and invited the public to her funeral.
Hundreds of well-wishers gathered at an El Paso cemetery on Saturday to support Antonio Basco as he buried 63-year-old Margie Reckard, his companion of 22 years.
Basco made international news after he told reporters he had almost no family members left and felt he was going to say goodbye to Reckard alone. Reckard was killed by a gunman who opened fire during a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart this month.
A funeral home said more than 3,000 people showed up at memorial Friday night to pay their respects to a woman they had never met. Some traveled from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
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8 a.m.
Thousands of strangers from Los Angeles to Tucson have come to El Paso, Texas, to say goodbye to an El Paso shooting victim after hearing that she had few family members.
Antonio Basco is scheduled Saturday to bury his long-time companion, 63-year-old Margie Reckard, who was killed by a gunman who opened fire at an El Paso Walmart this month.
Attendees waited more than two hours in 100-degree (38 Celsius) temperatures on Friday after Basco invited the public to attend her companion's funeral.
Angelique Tadeo of Tucson, Arizona says she and her husband, Paul, and their 3-year-old granddaughter drove more than four hours to attend Reckard's memorial. Tadeo worked as a nurse and treated victims during the 2011 shooting in Tucson that injured former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six.
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