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

[Sundog]

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

This makes me really angry, that the family of Liz Hamel are not getting any information on the investigation by the University of California Police Department. I hope they can get a high powered lawyer who can figure out how to get the case out of the hands of the university police and into the hands of outside LE. The family needs to know what happened to their daughter. I hope their plea to the community will bring forth some new information that will help them figure out what happened.

 

[Bigditch]

This makes me really angry, that the family of Liz Hamel are not getting any information on the investigation by the University of California Police Department. I hope they can get a high powered lawyer who can figure out how to get the case out of the hands of the university police and into the hands of outside LE. The family needs to know what happened to their daughter. I hope their plea to the community will bring forth some new information that will help them figure out what happened.

I thought they had already hired a lawyer.

 

[Sundog]

I thought they had already hired a lawyer.

They did, and he appears to be very good. I'm talking about a high-powered lawyer who would take this case on and really get things moving with his/her name and the media, etc. University police departments can often have difficulty with their dual loyalties, I'd like to see them hand over the case to the state. JMO.

 

[Bigditch]

They did, and he appears to be very good. I'm talking about a high-powered lawyer who would take this case on and really get things moving with his/her name and the media, etc. University police departments can often have difficulty with their dual loyalties, I'd like to see them hand over the case to the state. JMO.

I thought campus police were more or less paid babysitters, hall monitors as such. No professional law enforcement training. Imo

 

[Sundog]

Most states require that their college and university campus police are sworn police officers nowadays. I know that is the law in our state and has been the case for at least the last 20 years or so.

University of California Police Department officers are sworn peace officers with the same training and certification as other sworn peace officers/LE in the state and they can act as peace officers/LE throughout the state.

From article OP posted above:

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

The Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office told SFGATE that no criminal charges have been sent their way for review. "UCPD has not submitted their investigation to us yet,” Amber Frost, the DA’s executive assistant, told SFGATE on Tuesday.

In a statement sent to SFGATE on Tuesday, UCSB police said the incident remains under investigation and "expects to conclude its process in the coming days."

So maybe the UC Santa Barbara campus police will send criminal charges to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office once they complete their investigation. Maybe they don't think they have enough for the DA to press charges. I hope that's not the case.

 

[Sundog]

I thought campus police were more or less paid babysitters, hall monitors as such. No professional law enforcement training. Imo

That may still be the case in states that allow some campuses (small ones perhaps) to employ non-sworn security officers, but all the campuses I have worked at have sworn officers and same training and certification and authority, etc. as local and state law enforcement. (Make arrests, conduct investigations, etc.)

 

[lonewanderer]

from the sfgate you linked:
“She, apparently accidentally, left her phone and identification in the restaurant; both were later picked up by friends.”
—-

Odd to have left her phone and ID behind, when for the majority of young people, they are never without their phones. jmo.

Have they done an autopsy/toxicology? Of course, this may turnout to be something entirely different, but reading about this case brought to my memory a case of a college student in CO who jumped from a balcony and died. He had eaten a marijuana edible in cookie form. He was supposed to eat only 1/6 of the cookie, but he ate the whole thing, and had a psychotic reaction. (Link)

There’s been several true crime cases where someone’s so called “friends” takes their things from them so that the victim wouldn’t lose them. That’s the logic anyways but it always seems awful fishy.

An example of this is Kenneka Jenkins who’s “friends” took her keys, phone, and wallet and then let her wonder around a hotel until she accidentally locked herself inside of an industrial sized freezer.

Henry McCabe also allegedly gave his wallet to his friends that let him wander off by himsel

 

[Hexe]

There’s been several true crime cases where someone’s so called “friends” takes their things from them so that the victim wouldn’t lose them. That’s the logic anyways but it always seems awful fishy.

I suspect that in many cases the victim is so intoxicated he or she forgets to take the cellphone amd other effects while leaving a bar/club/whatever and friends just pick these items up. Then, being loyal, do not want the person look bad and lie that the person just left his/her effect with them.

Then there are young girls with helicopter parents, tracing their movements on the find the phone type apps. I suspect that might have been the case with Liz, but the romantic walk she wanted to hide from her parents, turned into nightmare.

 

[cujenn81]

I suspect that in many cases the victim is so intoxicated he or she forgets to take the cellphone amd other effects while leaving a bar/club/whatever and friends just pick these items up. Then, being loyal, do not want the person look bad and lie that the person just left his/her effect with them.

Then there are young girls with helicopter parents, tracing their movements on the find the phone type apps. I suspect that might have been the case with Liz, but the romantic walk she wanted to hide from her parents, turned into nightmare.

I can’t understand a parent who monitors their daughter’s day-to-day comings and goings with a tracking app when she’s off at college. I understand using the app if your daughter doesn’t respond to your calls or messages and you’re worried about her safety. But using it to exert control and/or spy on her? No.

Most teenagers find ways to evade that kind of behavior while living at home, and it seems futile to not expect one living at college to do the same. In my experience, helicoptering only increases rebellious behavior.

Although, I don’t know these parents or their precious child. I don’t know Liz’s past or her family’s cultural or religious beliefs, so It would be unfair of me to pass judgment.