They gathered with flowers, with cards, with candles and with poems.
All in tribute to Glenrothes man Wayne Fleming, whose body was found just over a week ago in a local park.
His grieving mother, Helen Cowan, bravely led the heartbroken group of his family and friends to the shady and peaceful area of the town’s Riverside Park near where his body had been discovered last week.
Accompanied by her partner, Andy Cocozza, she gazed at images of her son, known as Bagsy, in happier times, alongside dozens of floral tributes.
She thanked those who had known and loved her son for attending the small memorial event. “It means an awful lot to me,” she said.
Her partner said it was heart- warming to see so many turn up to pay their last respects to the 39-year-old.
“Wayne had a lot of friends who we never knew, so the turnout of people, some of whom we do not know, makes you feel very warm inside,” he said.
Helen said the past week had been “very difficult” to cope with.
She revealed she had already paid a private visit to the shady glade near the River Leven, which runs through the park. “And I will be coming back down myself at one point, just on my own,” she added.
Setting aside his own pain to support the family was Allan Bryant, whose own son, also called Allan, went missing in Glenrothes nearly two years ago.
While his anxious wait for news goes on, he hugged Wayne’s mother tightly and passed on his condolences.
Also giving her comfort was some poignant and heartfelt tributes to her much-loved son.
They included messages to “fly high” “my loyal friend”, and one from his first girlfriend “when we were kids”.
Next to framed images of Wayne was a poem to a son. “It seems so hard to comprehend that you are no longer here, but all the happy memories will help to keep you near,” it read.
Mr Fleming was the subject of an extensive missing persons inquiry and was last seen near his home in Glenrothes in March.