Family members, teachers and strangers said their final goodbyes to 17-year-old Mariam Makhniashvili Saturday, more than two years after she mysteriously disappeared.

The Toronto teen, whose remains were found in a north-end ravine last month, was laid to rest at a private funeral service.

For many of those who came to pay their respects, the funeral offered a first glimpse into the short life of the shy immigrant from the Republic of Georgia.

"She was a very happy young girl, by the sounds of it, with many interests, be it literature, be it music," said Chris Parkin, a physical education teacher at Forest Hill Collegiate, where Makhniashivili attended classes for only four days before she went missing on Sept. 14, 2009.

"It was just nice, I think, for everyone and many of us who did not really know her to hear about that happy childhood," Parkin told The Canadian Press after the service.

"I think there's a sense with a lot of people that there's some closure ... so there's a certain amount of relief with that."

Makhniashvili vanished just a few months after arriving in Canada with her brother to join their parents, who had been living in North America for some time.

Her disappearance baffled authorities despite numerous tips and reported sightings from as far away as Alberta.

Last month, her remains were discovered near Highway 401 and Yonge Street, not far from a highway overpass. Police said foul play wasn't suspected. They did not go as far as ruling her death a suicide, but suggested she may have been depressed.

The teen's father, Vakhtang Makhniashvili, was unable to attend her funeral after prison officials denied his request.

He pleaded guilty last year to stabbing three people after his daughter's disappearance and is currently serving a six-year jail sentence.

"He wanted to be here, he wanted to be with his wife... to have some closure here today and complete the grieving process," his lawyer Calvin Barry told The Canadian Press.

About 95 funeral invitations were sent to school officials and police officers who searched for the teen. On Friday, mourners attended a visitation at a north Toronto funeral home. Some who paid their respects had never met the teen.

Others who wrote condolences in an online book of remembrance hadn't known her either.

"Although we've never met, you have been in my thoughts for the past 2 years," said a note from a mourner named Taylor. "I'm so sorry for the loss of Mariam - we were all hoping for her safe return. She touched the lives of so many in Toronto and please know that the whole city is mourning for your family."

Makhniashvili's former school principal, Peggy Aitchison, said a bond formed between Canadians and the missing teen.

"This young woman who went missing really was embraced by this city, in terms of the care and concern and worry and so on," Aitchison said.

"I think it speaks a lot to our collective humanity in this country that someone who is a stranger to the country, to people, that so many people in the country... cared about her and wanted the best outcome for her," she said.