Priest lovingly remembered, but suspect remains a mystery.(Midday)

Byline: Rick A. Maese rmaese@abqtrib.com / 823-3687

Vincent and Katherine O'Callaghan remember back to just two months ago when the Rev. Michael Mack had come to spend a couple of days in their Tucson home.

A local church reunion brought Mack back to his longtime home and into the guest room of his longtime friends.

"He was part of the family. It was like he had never left," said Katherine O'Callaghan, 72, a friend of Mack's for the past 30 years. "His whole visit, the entire reunion, the welcome he got was just what you expect him to have: Everyone was warm and so happy to see him again.

"He was that kind of person. People just gravitated to him."

Mack was beaten and stabbed to death a week ago at the Servants of the Paraclete, the Jemez Springs retreat where he had spent time during the past several years between assignments for the church. His car was stolen and later found in Pojoaque.

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