A private investigator, attorney, and the father of Liz Hamel, the UC Santa Barbara student who died under mysterious circumstances, called on the university and the community to come forward with any information to help solve her death.
“I shouldn’t be standing here,” said a choked-up father, Alain Hamel. “I should be at home grieving my daughter.”
Hamel hired private investigator Michael Claytor and attorney Tyrone Maho to draw attention to Hamel’s death.
Neither law enforcement investigators or UCSB officials have released much information about the case.
Hamel, Claytor and Maho held a press conference Wednesday at the San Rafael dorm where Liz Hamel was found on the ground, believed to have fallen about 30 feet from a breezeway on Feb. 14.
“The academic quarter is coming to an end,” Hamel said. “Students are graduating or leaving campus. People’s memories fade. The window to reach the community is closing.”
Hamel added: “For weeks I have been imploring the UCSB leadership, including the chancellor’s staff and the chief of police, to engage publicly to the campus community. This is why I am here now. “
He flew in from Washington Wednesday morning for the press conference.
Hamel was last seen at Lao Wang Noodle Bar with an unidentified white man. Claytor released a cell phone image that showed a man about 6 feet tall, with blonde hair. According to attorney Maho’s description, he was wearing light blue Carhartt jeans, a gray Patagonia sweatshirt, and a carabiner with keys on his right hip that night.
Hamel’s friends saw the two leave the restaurant together. It was the last time they saw her. She was out celebrating Valentine’s Day with her roommates and friends. The 18-year-old UCSB freshman was in a good mood when she left the noodle bar with a young man around her age at 10:05 p.m.
But at 10:26 p.m., Hamel was found on the sidewalk, nearly lifeless, at the foot of the San Rafael Mountain Cluster, a UCSB on-campus dorm.
Someone made a call to 9-1-1 after seeing her. She had a pulse at the time. First responders arrived about six minutes later, attempted to revive her, and took her to the hospital.
Liz Hamel died in the hospital on Feb. 20.
The San Rafael dorm is about a six-minute walk from the Lao Wang restaurant. There are cameras inside residence hall elevators, but not on the exterior of the buildings, according to the university.
Hamel’s father suspects that she left the restaurant to spend the rest of the evening with the unidentified male, but that’s not the person who called 9-1-1.
“Elizabeth’s family is suffering an unimaginable loss,” said Maho. “Their 18-year-old daughter came to UCSB very excited and happy to be here, to start a new chapter in her life.”
Maho said she was a biology and chemistry student, was planning to be a scientist, had joined a sorority, made friends and “had the entire world in front of her.”
Maho said she was at Lao Wang for about two hours and was seen “being very close with the young man” that is in the photo.
They don’t know what happened during those missing minutes.
“The family is calling on all students, the UCSB and Santa Barbara communities and anyone who might even have the slightest information to come forward,” Maho said. “We need help identifying this person and what may have happened this evening.”
Maho said “we know that accidents, confusion and fear” can happen in a moment.
“We want to be clear. We are not accusing anyone of wrongdoing,” Maho said. “If you are this young man, or you know who he is, we are pleading with you to come forward.”
They asked that anyone with information contact Claytor Investigations by calling 805.335.3851. People can be anonymous, they said. They’re also distributing flyers across campus and the community.
Maho said that the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has offered assistance to UCSB and the police department, but so far it has not been accepted.
“We are calling on the university, specifically Chancellor (Henry) Yang, to accept this offer because time is of the essence,” Maho said.
“This happened over two months ago,” Maho said. “Students are leaving for the summer. “
A crowd of several students and about 50 people attended the press conference. Freshman Charlotte Kester said she bonded with Liz Hamel. They both were initially denied acceptance into UCSB, but both appealed, and were accepted. They originally were both accepted to UC Irvine.
Kester said “UCSB was our dream school.”
“If you were around her, there was never a moment when you wanted to do something else,” Kester said. “She was the most fun, happy person. I could be going through awful stuff, get a bad grade, have stuff going on in my life, I’d go spend the next day with Liz, and none of it mattered. She was such a fun person.”
In response to a Noozhawk inquiry, UCSB said in a statement:
“UC Police Department detectives have been working tirelessly to review all aspects of the tragic passing of one of our students outside a residence hall since they were called to investigate. Detectives and officers have conducted numerous interviews and have been systematically reviewing and accounting for all the available information related to the incident. The UCPD has met regularly with the immediate family members to support them through the investigative process of this tragedy.
“The UCPD is committed to continuing its comprehensive investigation to seek answers related to this tragic event and has been working closely with the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s office since the early stages of the investigation.
“Anyone with information should contact the UCPD at 805.893.7274. Because the work is ongoing, we cannot discuss any specifics related to the investigation at this time. Again, our hearts and thoughts are with the family and friends who have suffered a terrible loss.”