Family and loved ones will lay 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos to rest on Thursday, honoring the college student whose disappearance and death inspired a new push for mental health awareness nationwide.

A private visitation and funeral service will be held at Castle Ridge Mortuary, followed by a burial, according to Frank Trevino, a local missing persons advocate who helped the family in their search.

At the time of her death, Mendoza was a student at Northwest Vista College who hoped to become an orthodontist. Family members described her as a kind and humble young woman who was passionate about fitness.

Mendoza was born in Mexico and held dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States, according to her father. She lived in California until about 6, when her family moved to San Antonio.

When she went missing early on Christmas Eve from the home where she lived with her mother, leaving her phone behind, family members immediately became concerned. Security footage showed her searching her car outside her home and walking in the dark along a nearby street.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office launched a search for the teen with the help of federal authorities, and word of her disappearance spread across the nation as volunteers came out in droves to canvass the area.

Nearly one week after the search began, a joint team of Bexar County sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents found her remains and a firearm on Dec. 30 in a field a few hundred yards from her home. The Bexar County Medical Examiner ruled her death a suicide.

Authorities had learned of “suicidal ideations on Camila’s part” during the search, and Sheriff Javier Salazar previously said that she had struggled with depression and self-harm. She was in the midst of a romantic breakup and hardship at work and school, according to the sheriff.

On Saturday, hundreds from the community gathered at Mendoza’s neighborhood sports park to remember her life. Supporters packed the open field with shades of yellow, her favorite color, and released balloons in her memory.

Her parents, family members and friends shared memories with Mendoza promised to keep the teen’s spirit with them.

“As we grieve this tragic loss, our hope is that Camila’s story can serve as a reminder to anyone who may be hurting or feeling alone that there is always another way,” said her father, Alfonso Mendoza.

In the wake of Mendoza’s death, the sheriff has urged locals to check on their family members and loved ones. He encouraged anyone experiencing a mental health crisis to reach out to the Specialized Multidisciplinary Alternate Response Team (S.M.A.R.T.) by calling 210-223-7233.