The daughter of a murdered Pike County man is asking for the public to assist in raising funds to give him a proper funeral.

Gary Lee Pergler, 48, was declared missing on March 6 only to be found dead a few days later on March 10. Five people were subsequently charged in connection with his death including two people charged with murder.

Pergler’s daughter, Michelle Pergler, said the family is devastated by her father’s loss.

“His life was taken away way too early,” she said. “He was very loving, very kind. He would teach us how to work on cars; he was very handy too, always fixing things around the house. He would always help anyone else that he could. He was so generous.”

Pat Dickey Jr., 43, and Robert Raymond Johnson, 29, were arrested and charged with Pergler’s murder while Ashley Beebe, 29, Jason Michael Schultz, 27, and Jessica Mae Furtado, 24, were arrested and charged with one count of first-degree hindering prosecution.

Pergler says the family is now hoping that the public can assist the family in raising money both to transport her father’s remains from Alabama to Indiana, where the rest of his family lives, and to provide a proper funeral.

“We want to give him a nice funeral,” she said. “His children including myself are young and still paying loans – this was a very unexpected time for his death. We’re not financially ready to completely pay for a funeral and he definitely deserves a great funeral; we thought we’d reach out to see if the public can help.”

Pergler said the Alabama Department of Forensic Science has completed its autopsy of her father’s body and that he was to be cremated Friday.

Pergler is seeking to raise $5,000 to cover the funeral expenses, of which over $1,500 had been raised at publishing time. To contribute towards the funeral costs, make a donation at www.gofundme.com/yct5b-funeral-for-my-daddy.