Friends, family and community members were lined up as early as 7 a.m. outside Wyoming High School, where Warmbier graduated in 2013.

 The crowd at the school had reached its 2,500-person capacity and a staging area was set up for those still outside.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) told reporters outside the school, “This process has been an example of evil and love and good, this community and country have come together″ and are “holding this family up in prayer.”

Portman was reported to have met with the North Korean delegation to the United Nations in December to seek the release of Otto Warmbier in a secret meeting in New York.

The funeral service was open to the public but the Warmbier family requested for the press not to film inside the school or at his burial site.