A steady stream of mourners walked past a spray of pink roses atop a closed white casket in a Naperville funeral home where 21-year-old Eva Liu was waked Thursday.
Two weeks ago the young Naperville woman died after she was attacked and pushed down a 165-foot ravine at a scenic lookout near Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany.
Liu went on the European vacation with a friend to celebrate graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science.
She was supposed to start her career as a software engineer with Microsoft in July.
Instead, her parents, Lan Liu and Ping He, stood in a receiving line at the Beidelman-Kunsch Funeral Homes & Crematory, sharing their sorrow with family and friends.
Among those attending the private visitation was U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, who paused briefly before the casket and offered his condolences to the young woman’s parents.
“This is a horrible tragedy and, as a member of the Naperville community, Congressman Foster wanted to join his neighbors in showing support for Eva’s family and friends,” Foster’s spokesperson Grace Bouton, said after the wake.
At the back of the room, neighbors and friends watched a photo montage of Liu’s travels.
Liu and her twin sister, Alice, were born on Oct. 30, 2001, in Guangzhou, China, and grew up in Waterloo, Canada, before moving to Naperville in 2013.
Lui attended Madison Junior High School in Naperville and spent one year at Naperville Central High School before transferring to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, where she graduated in 2019.
Memorial services are planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at Living Water Evangelical Church, 1256 Wehrli Road in Naperville with the burial to follow in Naperville Cemetery on South Washington Street.
Liu and her longtime friend, Kelsey Chang, 22, of Bloomington, were vacationing in Germany when on June 14 they were lured off a path near the bridge that offers scenic views of the Bavarian castle by a man identified as Troy Bohling, 30, of Lincoln Park, Michigan.
Liu was attacked first, and after trying to stop the man and help her friend, Chang was thrown from the cliff, according to German police. Chang survived after falling on a tree, reports said.
According to reports, the suspect also tried to sexually assault Liu before throwing her over the same steep slope.
Bohling is being held in Germany on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and attempted sexual assault, authorities said.
The investigation is ongoing, but it could be three or four months before authorities decide on an indictment.
