The message "Come home Ty!" that graced the opening page of guitarist Ty Longley's Web site has changed to "In Memory of Ty Longley."

It seems friends and family have given up hope of finding the Brookfield native alive. The headline on Longley's Web site now says, "Ty is no longer with us."

The change to the Web site was made Sunday evening after the Webmaster spoke with Longley's girlfriend, Heidi, who confirmed that Longley, missing after Thursday fatal fire at The Station, a nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., "is gone."

Longley, 31, was a guitarist with Jack Russell's Great White, a new incarnation of the band that turned out such hits as "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and "Rock Me."

Longley's mother, Mary Pat Frederickson of Valdosta, Ga., said Friday, "I'm sure he isn't with us anymore." His father, Pat Longley of Hartford, went to Rhode Island Friday to determine his son's fate.

The Herald wasn't able to contact Longley's parents for comment Sunday night.

Visitors to Longley's Web site, including some local residents, have posted messages of sympathy and concern for his family and friends.

Heidi appeared on Dateline NBC Sunday night. "I'm Ty's girlfriend, and I'm the mother of his child. He's the love of my life," she said recalling how she met him at a Great White concert.

Heidi told Dateline she talked to him two hours before Thursday's show and promised to take a videotape of her upcoming ultrasound so he could hear their baby's heartbeat. She is due to have their baby in five months.

The band's pyrotechnics have been blamed with starting the fire that quickly engulfed the club, killing 97 and injuring more than 150.

Heidi defended the band during her Dateline interview and said that Great White has used the fountain of sparks many times. She said if the sparks could start that fire a cigarette could have easily done the same.

On the Net: www.tylongley.com