BLOOMINGTON - Amy Leichtenberg took the podium at a Vigil for Hope on Sunday night to describe to 100 people in the audience some of the good qualities of her sons, who were found dead March 29.

The mother of Jack and Duncan Leichtenberg stood next to Noah Stengel, 8, of LeRoy, a friend of Jack's. When talking about her sons' qualities, she shifted between the present and past tense while she spoke between sobs.

"Duncan was very caring, nurturing," Leichtenberg said of her elder son, who was 9 at the time of his death.

"He was often told he had an old soul," she continued.

"He would do anything for anyone. He draws beautifully. He loved playing video games. He loved his little brother very much."

The vigil at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites was one of 14 organized Sunday by the National Vigil for Hope 2009. The organization, based in Vancouver, Wash., is dedicated to making the public aware of how missing people affect families and friends.

As Leichtenberg spoke, many images of the brothers were shown on a screen. The pictures showed the brothers embracing, or one of them kissing the other's cheek.

Leichtenberg described her younger son, Jack, 7, as "very funny, very witty."

"He loved Batman," she said. Upon entering the afterlife, he "looked up Heath Ledger as soon as he got there," she said.

Jack would routinely ask her to select shirts for him, saying shirts he chose didn't look right, she said.

"He was my little metro," she said.

Leichtenberg touched on her deep grief at her sons' deaths.

"Every breath I take, I can't stop thinking about them." she said. "I just want them to come home, but they're not going to come home."

Tobi Allsup of Pekin hosted the vigil. The event enabled her achieve two goals - to show photos and information about missing people from Illinois, "and to let Amy know she's got a lot of support."

"Jack and Duncan will not be forgotten," she said.

Allsup is the mother of three children. "I can not imagine not knowing where mine are for 10 minutes, let alone hours, days, weeks," Allsup said.

Sarah Nava of LeRoy, who baby-sat the brothers, attended the event. Nava was holding one of her three children, 3-year-old Amelia Nava, after the vigil.

"It was nice," she said of the vigil, before setting down Amelia to wipe away her tears.

The Web site of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists 90 females and 55 males from Illinois who are currently missing.

Fingerprint service

As part of the vigil, children lined up to be fingerprinted by McLean County Sheriff's Deputy Sara Bay. Jana Schopp of Bloomington sang, while Jim Weller, also of Bloomington, accompanied her on acoustic guitar.

The boys were found dead March 29 in Putnam County in what police consider a murder-suicide. Their father, Michael Connolly, 40, of Bloomington, did not return the boys March 8 after a weekend visit.

An Amber Alert was issued for the boys March 9. Connolly was discoverd hanged about 60 yards away from his car, where the boys' bodies were found.