KATY, Texas -- Dozens of relatives and friends of missing 19-year-old college student Donna Jou gathered Sunday for a candlelight prayer vigil outside her aunt's home in northeast Fort Bend County, KPRC Local 2 reported.

They prayed for Jou's safe return and strength for her parents.

Jou recently finished her freshman year with honors at San Diego State University after graduating from Clear Lake High School.

She was last seen in Los Angeles in mid-June at a party held at the home of John Steven Burgess, a convicted sex offender. Police said Jou just met Burgess on the Web site Craigslist.org when she advertised to work as a math tutor.

One of Jou's lifelong friends described her as very intelligent academically, but too trusting of people.

"Unfortunately, her innocence and kindness and belief in others may have led to her being taken from us," said Tonya Torabi.

The director of Texas EquuSearch was scheduled to meet with police in Los Angeles on Monday in hopes of searching the area around Burgess' home. Burgess was considered a suspect in Jou's disappearance, but police said they do not have enough evidence to charge him in the case. He was charged with failing to register as a sex offender and remains out of jail on bond.