CA - Liz Hamel, 18, UC Santa Barbara Student falls to her death from dorm breezeway 20 minutes after leaving restaurant with unknown male, 14 Feb 2025

[realanastasia]

There are many other reasons for leaving the phone and ID behind (most probably the ID was in the phone case), from being easily distracted and forgetful to handing the phone to the friends in order to avoid the date being detected by her parents, who were tracing her phone.

What have you seen in MSM that suggests she was concerned about her parents learning about her date?

 

[slowpoke]

There are many other reasons for leaving the phone and ID behind (most probably the ID was in the phone case), from being easily distracted and forgetful to handing the phone to the friends in order to avoid the date being detected by her parents, who were tracing her phone.

from Noozhawk

“When Liz left that night, she apparently forgot her iPhone and ID at the restaurant, Lao Wang Noodle Bar.”
…
“Her roommates found her phone and brought it back to the dorm.”

###

I hope however it got left at the restaurant—because Liz forgot it, or she intentionally left it for her friends to take back to the dorm—that the investigators at least have been told how it went down, and so know the truth, even if the media, and we who rely on the media, may not.

 

[slowpoke]

What have you seen in MSM that suggests she was concerned about her parents learning about her date?

Her mom has said they were “helicopter parents” (the mom’s own words) and would track her daughter’s location on the iPhone.

Death at the Dorm: UCSB Student Liz Hamel's Fall Mired in Mystery | Local News | Noozhawk

It's a mystery what happened that night, between 10:06 p.m. and 10:26 p.m. Liz Hamel was out celebrating Valentine's Day with her roommates and friends at

www.noozhawk.com

 

[realanastasia]

I was aware of reports that LH had “helicopter parents” but was looking for something beyond that glib description that would support the hypothesis that LH deliberately left her phone/ID at the restaurant to prevent her parents from knowing that she had departed the restaurant with a guy (not that they would have had any way of knowing who, if anyone, LH was with).

IMO it’s a less plausible explanation to say she deliberately left her phone and ID at the restaurant, as opposed to that happening as a consequence of intoxication:

It was Valentine’s Day, which many U.S. college students use as an excuse to party/celebrate/drink (I make this claim based on nearly 20 years working in U.S. colleges).
In terms of her behavior during dinner, LH was described as being “very close” (see article below) to the guy she left with/was last seen with. This sounds to me like there may have been an unusual amount of PDA between LH and the guy, which—in the context of being at a restaurant for a meal with several of her other friends and roommates—suggests to me that maybe she was not 100% sober, and therefore possibly not in the right frame of mind to make sure she had her possessions before leaving.*

*I get the impression LH and the guy may have left the restaurant before the group’s meal had concluded. If there was an untoward amount if PDA happening at the dinner, did a friend jokingly say something like, Get a room!”?

https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/liz-hamel-student-death-mystery-man-identified-20306904.php

 

[Hexe]

IMO it’s a less plausible explanation to say she deliberately left her phone and ID at the restaurant, as opposed to that happening as a consequence of intoxication:

IMO, considering there was video footage from that noodle bar AND multiple witnesses, if LH was visibly impaired we would already know that.

 

[Sundog]

I was aware of reports that LH had “helicopter parents” but was looking for something beyond that glib description that would support the hypothesis that LH deliberately left her phone/ID at the restaurant to prevent her parents from knowing that she had departed the restaurant with a guy (not that they would have had any way of knowing who, if anyone, LH was with).

IMO it’s a less plausible explanation to say she deliberately left her phone and ID at the restaurant, as opposed to that happening as a consequence of intoxication:

It was Valentine’s Day, which many U.S. college students use as an excuse to party/celebrate/drink (I make this claim based on nearly 20 years working in U.S. colleges).
In terms of her behavior during dinner, LH was described as being “very close” (see article below) to the guy she left with/was last seen with. This sounds to me like there may have been an unusual amount of PDA between LH and the guy, which—in the context of being at a restaurant for a meal with several of her other friends and roommates—suggests to me that maybe she was not 100% sober, and therefore possibly not in the right frame of mind to make sure she had her possessions before leaving.*

*I get the impression LH and the guy may have left the restaurant before the group’s meal had concluded. If there was an untoward amount if PDA happening at the dinner, did a friend jokingly say something like, Get a room !”?

Apparently her friends "found" her phone and ID, there is not information reported that LH asked her friends to take her phone back to the dorms and left it with them for that purpose.

 

[Sundog]

IMO, considering there was video footage from that noodle bar AND multiple witnesses, if LH was visibly impaired we would already know that.

The toxicology report hasn't been made public at this time. I think her family want to keep that private unless LE takes further action. Lots we don't know.

 

[realanastasia]

Apparently her friends "found" her phone and ID, there is not information reported that LH asked her friends to take her phone back to the dorms and left it with them for that purpose.

I agree. It’s been suggested upthread that perhaps this is what happened, which seems far less likely to me than LH accidentally leaving it behind when she departed the restaurant.

 

[slowpoke]

I agree. It’s been suggested upthread that perhaps this is what happened, which seems far less likely to me than LH accidentally leaving it behind when she departed the restaurant.

I think we’re all just putting forth ideas based on the limited information we had so far.

It may be right that she accidentally left it behind, but I think it is also plausible that her daughter knew her mother might be checking where she was. Whether or not that would translate into leaving her phone?

However, to poke one hole in that idea of her intentionally leaving it at the restaurant, if her mother texted or called her while her phone was not with her, she might alarm her mother more by not answering.

jmo

 

[slowpoke]

One of her friends says in the video: “We were super scared and we tried calling a bunch of times” (after realizing Liz never returned)

I was under the impression that the friends found the phone before they left the restaurant on Feb 14, but could this imply they didn’t retrieve Liz’s phone until the following morning?

Also, there’s a bit more info on where she was found on the property:
In front of a bike rack
in the courtyard
believed to have fallen from an upper floor walkway

 

[Bigditch]

One of her friends says in the video: “We were super scared and we tried calling a bunch of times” (after realizing Liz never returned)

I was under the impression that the friends found the phone before they left the restaurant on Feb 14, but could this imply they didn’t retrieve Liz’s phone until the following morning?

Also, there’s a bit more info on where she was found on the property:
In front of a bike rack
in the courtyard
believed to have fallen from an upper floor walkway

So so sad.

 

[Fika]

One of her friends says in the video: “We were super scared and we tried calling a bunch of times” (after realizing Liz never returned)

I was under the impression that the friends found the phone before they left the restaurant on Feb 14, but could this imply they didn’t retrieve Liz’s phone until the following morning?

Also, there’s a bit more info on where she was found on the property:
In front of a bike rack
in the courtyard
believed to have fallen from an upper floor walkway

That makes sense when it comes to the noodle bar closing at 10 pm , maybe they retrieved the phone next morning?

 

[Sundog]

That makes sense when it comes to the noodle bar closing at 10 pm , maybe they retrieved the phone next morning?

My understanding is that the restaurant stops taking food orders at 9:45 p.m. because the kitchen closes at 10 p.m., but people don't need to leave at 10 p.m. I would think that people that get their food just before 10 p.m. would be there until at least 10:30 p.m. or thereabouts.

 

[Sundog]

One of her friends says in the video: “We were super scared and we tried calling a bunch of times” (after realizing Liz never returned)

I was under the impression that the friends found the phone before they left the restaurant on Feb 14, but could this imply they didn’t retrieve Liz’s phone until the following morning?

Also, there’s a bit more info on where she was found on the property:
In front of a bike rack
in the courtyard
believed to have fallen from an upper floor walkway

It's reported that the male companion stated that LH fell and he left because he was afraid. Wow. He just left a person lying on the ground, she still had a pulse. He didn't even try to make an anonymous call to 911.

 

[slowpoke]

This article is dated May 2, 2025, so over a week old. It’s when the family put out their appeal for information on identifying the young man Liz had left Lao Wang with. It is from an article in a Santa Barbara City College newspaper called The Channels. I don’t recall reading this before.

The family believes the man may be connected to City College and is expanding outreach efforts beyond UCSB.

“We believe that this person of interest or someone who knows him is currently an SBCC student,”[family attorney] Maho said in an email to The Channels.

I wonder if it turned out to be accurate that he is/was a student there.

Family seeks help IDing man last seen with Elizabeth “Liz” Hamel

The family of UCSB freshman Elizabeth “Liz” Hamel, who died from sustained injuries after being found unconscious near a university dorm, is asking for the public’s help identifying a man last seen with her on the night of Feb. 14. At a press conference held on Wednesday, April 30, the Hamel...

www.thechannels.org

 

[Spyralflare]

Here are some photos of San Rafael. There are 3 separate buildings. The 6-story building is not connected to the other 2, which are both 3 stories. The Mountain Cluster is the 3-story building on the left in the photo of all 3 buildings.
There are 2 bike rack areas in the Mountain Cluster, both pictured. Nothing there now to indicate which one is the location of her fall.

 

[Charlot123]

The railings are high enough to meet building code. Had it been reported how tall she was? The most likely scenarios seem to be either she was under the influence of something and went over the railing due to being impaired OR someone else was involved (possible struggle that led to her going over).

On Valentine’s Day night I would expect a lot of students to be up late. It’s very strange that no one saw anything with the number of people living there.

I asked the same question on SM and someone said, she was 5 feet. If so, it would not be that easy for her to go over the railing. I imagine a more mundane situation, someone clutsy maybe sitting her on the railing to kiss, and she fell down.. And it could have really been fast, getting to the San Rafael, going up, and her falling almost immediately.
I suspect that she met an idiotically naive guy her age who unwillingly contributed to the problem and left. And it is leaving her that makes him so despicable.

 

[Fika]

The railing is regular height to prevent accidental falling, it’s not so easy to fall over even when one is wearing high heels or tripped over something. She wasn’t extremely tall either. I think for it to be accidental fall without anyone involved is almost impossible IMO.

Now other possibility as some of you mentioned up thread it could be as he put her sitting on railing to kiss her or something similar that ended up with her on top of railing.

Then we are left with accidental fall due to an argument of some sort.

For example maybe while going to the building on breezeway she realised that she doesn’t have her phone on her and is going with a guy she doesn’t know to presumably a a room of a person she doesn’t know either ( his or not we don’t know ) . It could result of her changing her mind and backing off to get back to friends.

Just a thought. IMO.

Timeline is so short that I could see the “ wait I changed my mind “ scenario while realising she doesn’t have her phone on her in case something happens.

Just some thoughts

 

[Charlot123]

Person of Interest Questioned by UCSB Police in Hamel's Death Case | News Channel 3-12

A request for more information about the death of UCSB student Liz Hamel is being made by her family and an attorney. She died following an incident believed to be a dorm fall on Feb. 14.

keyt.com

Not much new just the family saying how critical the community response was.

 

[Chili Fries]

New article today. The university police department expects to conclude their investigation "in the coming days".

https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/liz-hamel-mysterious-death-uc-santa-barbara-20370331.php