Today Margaret Nicastro is praying for a miracle but thinking realistically.

Mrs. Nicastro's granddaughter, Donna Mitchell, 29, of Fall River, Mass., was at The Station when fire broke out during a concert Thursday by the band Great White at the Rhode Island nightclub. Ninety-seven people were killed in the fire, which was started by the band's pyrotechnic display.

"I always pray but I don't think there's any hope," she said.

Mrs. Nicastro learned the bad news Sunday.

"They (my family) didn't want to call me directly on account of my (health) condition. They wanted somebody to be with me," Mrs. Nicastro said.

Her granddaughter and her husband, Don and Marcie Snyder of Hubbard, delivered the news in person.

"I broke down and cried," Mrs. Nicastro said. She said she knows it was hard for her family to tell her.

"I was the bearer of bad news," Mrs. Snyder said. She said they didn't want to tell her grandmother until they were sure her first counsin was missing. "Being that this is Sunday already they're pretty sure she didn't make it out," she said.

Mrs. Nicastro said her daughter, Joanne Mitchell, went to a couple of hospitals to identify women who might be her granddaughter but none of them were.

Mrs. Nicastro said the last time she saw her granddaughter was over the summer.

Ms. Mitchell has two daughters, ages 9 and 11, Mrs. Snyder said. She said Ms. Mitchell's fiancé, Rob, was at the concert with her and is in critical condition. "Rob has severe burns. If he does make it they said he has to have a series of reconstructive surgeries," she said.

"My heart is breaking for my aunt because she was their only daughter," Mrs. Snyder said. "It's sad when you have the distance. You just want to be there for them and you can't be."

Mrs. Snyder said the last news she heard was that officials are going to start to identify the fire victims by dental records on Tuesday, so it's going to be days for her family gets any word.

Fall River is very close to Rhode Island, and Ms. Mitchell worked at a Holiday Inn in Rhode Island, Mrs. Nicastro said.

"I always knew she liked to go to concerts but it never dawned on me: Did she go to that one?" Mrs. Nicastro said. "And then I get that news today. I mostly kept up with that guitarist never thinking 'Was Donna there?"

Brookfield native Ty Longley, Great White's guitarist, was also among the missing. He is presumed dead, according to his Web site www.tylongley.com.