Susan Whitney-Wilkerson/The Gazette Mark Schaefer, a close friend of the Mulsteff family, reads Bible verses at a memorial vigil held at the site where 19-year-old Sean Mulsteff died when his car struck a tree one year ago.

A large cross draped in an American flag marks the tree near Watkins Road where Mullsteff's car crashed on April 4 of last year. Friends and family placed fresh bouquets of flowers and a potted plant at the base of the tree Monday night.

"There really aren't words to describe the pain we all feel without you here," his sister Chelsea Mullsteff, 17, read from a letter she wrote to him.

Stopping often to compose herself, she read through her tears.

"There is an empty chair at the dinner table, an empty room in the house, an empty spot wherever we go.... You were my hero.... You'll always be my big brother."

Two former girlfriends also spoke at the impromptu vigil.

"I miss everything about you -- your smile, your sense of humor, your curly hair," said Cori Murdock of Damascus.

Mullsteff had driven Olney resident Chrysanthi Halkiotis home shortly before the crash.

She was able to give only brief remarks Monday before breaking down in sobs.

"Memories of the last night ­- I think about them everyday. ... It helps me smile," Halkiotis said.

"We made it 365 days and 365 nights ... and we'll make it one more day and the day after that," Mark Schaefer, a friend of the family from Gaithersburg, told the crowd of nearly 100.

Plans for Monday night's vigil began Sunday as a gathering for immediate family and a few friends, but Sean's mother Sue Mullsteff said the list of people wanting to participate just kept growing.

The memorial was just "one more step in the healing process," Schaefer said after reading from the Bible.

"I think about him a lot when I'm driving," said Patrick Tomlinson, of Damascus, afterwards.

Tomlinson left the vigil with Jeff Blitzer and Sean Black.

They had been Sean Mullsteff's friends since childhood. Blitzer came on the accident five minutes after it occurred.

"I get chills when I drive by," Blitzer said. "I say a little prayer... I know Sean's with us all the time."

Police said excessive speed caused the crash.

"We can all relate to this ­- everyone has a teenage driver or knows someone of teenage driving age," said Montgomery County Police Capt. Bill O'Toole before the service.

Sean Mullsteff was the second of Perry and Sue Mullsteff's four children. Since his death, Perry Mullsteff has devoted himself to preventing teenage car accidents.

He resigned as pastor of Gaithersburg's Redeemer Church to spend all his time creating the Sean Mullsteff Teen Driving Foundation. He said the foundation plans to conduct defensive driving classes for teenagers.

"There's a lot more we can do to reduce tragedies in families," O'Toole said.

An off-duty O'Toole came to the memorial service because Perry Mullsteff has impressed him with his commitment to preventing teenage driving accidents. The police are interested in working with the Mullsteff foundation, he said.