Throng Mourns Model at Funeral in Lakewood : Service: More than a thousand attend service for former Raiders cheerleader. ‘She had a lot of love to give,’ a friend says.

They came, at last, to say their farewells to Linda Sobek.

Many were from the glittery world of modeling. Others were old family friends. More than a thousand came Friday to the First Baptist Church of Lakewood to pay tribute to the former Raiders cheerleader whose disappearance and death became one of the most highly publicized slayings in the Southland this year.

They began arriving early for the afternoon funeral service at the church, tucked among the boxy homes of suburban Lakewood where Sobek grew up. And so did the media, lining the street outside as friends, and some who had never met Sobek, made their way to the church.

In the vestibule, a collage of color photos was on display. They were of Sobek and friends, Sobek as a young girl with her dog, Sobek sitting on Santa’s lap, Sobek going to the prom and many more family photos.

A guitar and violin duo played mournful strains as the church gradually began to fill. The slain woman’s parents, Robert and Elaine Sobek, were led to their places at the front of the church, along with about 30 relatives.

“We are here today to remember, to honor and to love our friend, out sister and our daughter, Linda Sobek,” said Pastor Jim Mackinga. “Today we will remember her not in death, not in the way she died, but in her life.”

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Two weeks have passed since Sobek left a message on her answering machine saying that she could not be reached because she was on a photo shoot. In the days that followed, a massive search was undertaken for the blond model whose disappearance occupied a major portion of the news each night.

In the course of the investigation, free-lance photographer Charles E. Rathbun was arrested and led investigators to an isolated spot in Angeles National Forest where Sobek’s body was found. Investigators reported that Rathbun, who has been charged with murder in the case, said he accidentally ran her down while on location at a dry lake bed.

Although the official cause of Sobek’s death has yet to be released, it was learned Friday that the model’s ankles--and possibly her wrists--were tied sometime before she was buried.

“She was bound at some point,” said a source close to the investigation.

Sheriff Sherman Block said Thursday that Rathbun may be a serial killer and that investigators are looking into other deaths similar to that of Sobek.

At the church Friday, those who knew her best spent about an hour and a half reminiscing about the 27-year-old model who was living in Hermosa Beach at the time of her death. They talked of her easy laugh and radiant smile.

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A friend who had known her since third grade talked of how Sobek “always had time for all her friends. She had a lot of love to give.”

They talked of how she had been baptized recently and how that had seemed to influence her life. Some read poems they had written, others talked of how she had been a member of the Big Sisters organization.

So many people came to speak at the two microphones in front of the church that Mackinga finally had to ask them to stop.

And then the minister launched into his own eulogy, in which one of the messages was that Sobek’s death might not have occurred if there had been some sort of “buddy system” in which models do not go off by themselves for photo shoots.

“You don’t go scuba diving alone,” he said. “That’s what Bob and Elaine have been saying these last two weeks--the buddy system.”

And then it was over. Sobek’s parents, each of them holding a pink rose, reached over and touched the casket.

As the funeral was taking place, investigators continued to widen their search, looking at the possibility that Rathbun may be connected with the murder and disappearances of other women.

It was learned Friday that sheriff’s detectives have been using the FBI’s computerized Violent Criminal Apprehension Program in their investigation of other violent crimes that might be linked to Rathbun.

The computer, which contains detailed information on homicides, disappearances and sex crimes from state and local agencies nationwide, has provided an undisclosed number of leads for detectives, according to sheriff’s homicide Sgt. John Yarborough.

In Santa Barbara, investigators were trying to determine if Rathbun was in the area when a 24-year-old photography student vanished in 1985. Several days later, the dismembered body of Kym Morgan was found in Los Padres National Forest.

In Livingston County, Mich., investigators are trying to determine if Rathbun was in the area when two young women mysteriously vanished in 1990 and 1995. Investigators said they know Rathbun has had several Michigan driver’s licenses, dating back to 1983.

Police in the Michigan cities of Lansing and Romulus have said they are looking at Rathbun’s possible involvement in the disappearance of a young aspiring model and the murder of a 41-year-old flight attendant. But they also said that there is nothing yet to tie Rathbun to any of the cases.

Rathbun’s attorney, Mark J. Werksman, voiced concern about the publicity surrounding his client.

“I think the public speculation by law enforcement here and elsewhere about Charles Rathbun in efforts to link him to other crimes and label him as a serial killer is inflaming public passion against him and may make it impossible for him to get a fair trial here,” he said.

Times staff writers Eric Slater and Greg Krikorian contributed to this story.