EDINBURG – Nearly 60 years after the body of Irene Garza was found in a McAllen canal, her accused murderer is set to appear before a judge.

Garza was last seen going to confession at Sacred Heart Church where John Feit was a priest at that time.

One friend of Garza’s said the trial brings back memories. Despite that, she wants to know what happened to her friend.

It was 1960 when Minnie Barrera last saw Irene.

“We became good friends in high school. She was a year ahead of me,” she said.

Barrera described her good friend as kind, intelligent and fun loving.

“She was the sweetest girl. She would do anything for you,” she said. “She would drop anything at the drop of a hat and help you out if you needed.”

Barrera said the recent publicity of the case brings back both good and bad memories.

“We would go out to – at the time it was called the Citriana Drive Inn, and that’s where a lot of us used to go and hang out,” she said.

But it’s the bad memories that have Barrera anxious about the trial.

“What he did to her… it was just so horrible,” she said. “I was on the way driving here from McAllen this morning. I was telling my daughter – I said, ‘I don’t even know if I want to see this man.’”

Barrera said no matter the outcome of the trial, nothing will bring her friend back.

The trial is set to begin Thursday morning.