The parents of a UC Santa Barbara student who was raped and strangled last weekend are asking for the public’s help to find their daughter’s attacker.

The 18-year-old UCSB freshman was attacked at the Tropicana Gardens student housing in Isla Vista at 6585 El Colegio Road at about 11 p.m. Saturday after attending a Sigma Pi fraternity party.

The family’s attorney, Tyrone Maho, and private investigator Michael Clayor held a press conference at Tropicana Gardens Thursday afternoon to ask for help identifying the attacker, who was last seen with the victim before the attack and her fleeing Tropicana Gardens and calling 9-1-1.  

On Saturday, the UC Police Department shared that the victim and attacker met at a party in Isla Vista before the attack.

Maho said he has reached out to UCSB Chancellor Dennis Assanis for help and to hand the investigation over to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, but Assanis has not returned calls or emails or responded to the family.

“The family does wish to express its gratitude for the efforts undertaken by UCSB PD so far, but due to their limited resources, we ask that our Sheriff’s Department take over this investigation,” Maho said.

“We further believe that UCPD has an inherent conflict of interest in investigating this crime. This attacker needs to be apprehended immediately.”

Anyone who was at the Sigma Pi fraternity party, near the Sigma Pi house at 760 Embarcadero del Mar, or near Tropicana Gardens anytime the evening of May 9 is asked to contact the UC Police Department at 805.893.3346.

Investigators are seeking any photos, videos, or recollections that could help identify the attacker.

Maho and Clayor were the attorney and investigator for Liz Hamel’s family. Hamel was a UCSB freshmen who died after a fall on Valentine’s Day in 2025.

She left a restaurant and bar that night with an unknown individual, and about 20 minutes later was found on the ground severely injured at the foot of the San Rafael Mountain Cluster, a UCSB on-campus dorm.

In December, UCPD ruled the incident as an accidental fall.