WESTON-SUPER-MARE, England (AP) -- Thousands of mourners gathered Friday for the funeral of Jill Dando, one of Britain's most popular television personalities, whose slaying last month shocked the nation. People lined the streets of this western coastal town and watched silently as her coffin was driven from a local church to the graveyard where she was to be buried. Miss Dando, who appeared on news and current affairs programs for the British Broadcasting Corp., was shot in the head April 26 on the doorstep of her west London home as she returned from shopping errands. Her killing remains unsolved. One of the mourners, James Higgins, had traveled from London to watch the funeral procession pass through. ``Having seen her on television almost daily I felt I wanted to say some sort of goodbye. And her hometown seemed a fitting place to do it,'' he said. Among the congregation of 100 mourners were Prince Edward's fiancee Sophie Rhys-Jones and a string of television personalities. Alan Farthing, whom Miss Dando was to have married in September, read a poem sent anonymously by a woman who had lost her fiance suddenly last year. A speaker set up in a park allowed local people to listen to the service. ``Jill, the beautiful girl next door, known to every family in the country, was shot dead. And everyone was asking `Why?''' said the Rev. Roger Collins, reading her eulogy. Several witnesses have come forward with descriptions of a similar man seen at or near the 37-year-old TV star's house, but nobody has been arrested. Some speculate it was a botched robbery or a stalker, while others say it could have been an underworld hitman, since Miss Dando worked on ``Crimewatch,'' a true-life crime show that seeks the public's help in catching suspects. -=-=- 