Friends of missing University of Florida student Christian Aguilar came together for a benefit concert Sunday night as the South Florida teen's parents continue to await official word on whether a body found in Levy County Friday is their son.
The Music Saves Lives Club at Florida International University held the concert to raise funds to find the 18-year-old who has been missing since Sept. 20. The benefit was put together by another one of Aguilar's high school friends who says its the least she could do.
"I graduated a year before him, and he was helping me instead of the other way around but that's just the type of person Christian was," Nadia Echegoyen said.
PHOTOS: The Christian Aguilar Case
Former Aguilar classmate Roger Sanchez performed a song he wrote just days into the disappearance inspired by Aguilar's father's relentless search.
"It just really affected me in general just seeing images of his dad by himself with a machete up in Gainesville by himself," Sanchez said.
Events like Sunday night's concert have helped raise at least $10,000 for the Aguilar family to assist in the search that may have concluded with Friday's discovery.
On Friday afternoon, two men found human remains in jeans and sneakers matching Aguilar's at the Gulf Hammock Hunting Club, more than 50 miles south of Gainesville.
The Gainesville Police Department on Saturday said they assisted the Levy County Sheriff's Office after the body was discovered, but the identity of the remains has not been confirmed.
"We as a family believe that Christian has been found, and our prayers have been heard," father Carlos Aguilar said at a news conference Saturday night.
Aguilar, a graduate of Doral Academy Preparatory High School, was last seen with Pedro Bravo, his friend and former classmate, at a Gainesville Best Buy.
Police arrested and initially charged Bravo, also 18, with depriving a crime victim of medical care, but he was charged with murder after police say they found blood in Bravo's SUV and found Aguilar's backpack hidden inside a suitcase in Bravo's closet.
Blood Found in Bravo's SUV: Cops
Bravo's attorneys have said that he is cooperating with authorities.
In Gainesville Sunday, friends and strangers came to a new mural on the town's 34th Street Wall to pay respects at a tribute to the missing teen.
"Always on our mind, forever in our heart, Christian Aguilar," it reads.
Service for Christian Aguilar at Miami Church
Carlos Aguilar said the family is preparing to lay their son to rest as they await an autopsy that could confirm the identity of the remains.
"If it wasn't for the prayers, if it wasn't for the support, if it wasn't for all those angels came through," he said.
