DATE: Sunday, May 11, 1997                  TAG: 9705110071

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: THE WASHINGTON POST 

DATELINE: SPOTSYLVANIA                      LENGTH:   65 lines

TORN COMMUNITY BURIES TWO SLAIN SISTERS

Ron Lisk stood before hundreds of mourners Saturday, recalling the evening this week that he and his wife learned, after days of intense prayer, that the bodies of their two children had been found at the bottom of a cold river.

``I always thought I had some faith, but my faith has been challenged,'' Lisk said, choking back tears. ``May God truly bless you all, and I am sure that he will. The outpouring of this community will never, never be forgotten.''

The moment of grief, one of countless Saturday, came as this rural community 70 miles south of Washington buried the two Lisk girls, Kristin, 15, and Kati, 12. It was the final act in an agonizing, seemingly endless week, one that residents said they will long remember with remorse, anger and fear.

The tears began early in the day, as Ron and Patti Lisk and a hundred or so close friends and relatives gathered in a tight pack around a single grave that had been dug alongside their church for the two sisters.

Later, nearly a thousand people, many of whom had never met the family, squeezed into Spotswood Baptist Church, one of the area's largest, to pay their respects.

Ron Lisk, who works at a Fredericksburg photography studio, and Patti Lisk, a nursing instructor at a community college, attended the service at Spotswood Baptist. It was their first public appearance since their daughters' disappearance from their home on May 1. The girls' bodies were discovered five days later in the South Anna River, about 40 miles away.

Ron Lisk told the mourners that before their daughters were found, he and his wife kept repeating lines from the Bible, saying, ``There is hope for your future, your children will come back home, for I am the Lord.''

Patti Lisk, who did not speak during the 90-minute service, sat in the front row, near her sister and other family members, singing and praying with the mourners while occasionally bowing her head.

Among those at the service were Gov. George F. Allen and dozens of law enforcement officials.

Spotsylvania Sheriff Ron Knight said Saturday that he had little information to add on the status of the investigation, which is off to a difficult start despite the more than 1,000 tips his department has received. No witnesses have surfaced at either the site of the girls' abduction or the place where their bodies were found, Knight said.

The service ended with a rousing rendition of ``Amazing Grace.'' Dozens of mourners clogged the aisles as they lined up to hug Ron and Patti Lisk and share their memories of Kati and Kristin.

Despite the reassuring words, some said the service did little to ease their fear and sense of loss.

``I just miss her,'' said Nicole Wright, 11, a classmate of Kati's who wore a blue and purple ribbon on her chest because those were Kati's favorite colors. ``I'm not going to forget her. I don't think we're all going to forget what happened - ever.'' MEMO: People with information are asked to call a toll-free tip line:

1-800-729-1411. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS

Patti Lisk, the mother of Kristin, 15, and Kati, 12, whose bodies

were found Tuesday, hugs a supporter during a memorial service for

the sisters on Saturday. Nearly 1,000 people gathered at Spotswood

Baptist Church to grieve for the girls during the 90-minute service. KEYWORDS: MURDER

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